When Blackbirds Meet
by sammycrusinix
Summary: A new girl arrives in Neo Domino city and saves one of Crow's flock, but is she just a new friend or does she come with her own set of problems? And how does she connect to the Crimson Dragon? Contains CrowXOC YuseiXAkiza JackXCarly
1. Meeting

_**Hello Hello! This is my first Yugioh 5D's fan-fiction so hopefully its not too horrible! XD Anyway! This came too me one night and I haven't stopped writing it since, that's not to say there isn't more chapters or anything. But I am uploading this as a sort of test too see if anyone will actually read this. So without further aude...**_

_**Disclaimer: I own only my OC and the plot, everything else belongs to the creator of Yugioh 5D's! **_

* * *

She sat under the shade of a nearby tree watching with uninterested pale blue eyes. Yet every now and then she would turn her gaze from the happy scene in front of her to the notebook in her lap, gently sliding the pencil across the page.

She had done this everyday since she came to this city; it wasn't her intention to be a creeper. But nobody here seemed to notice her presence, much less give her a passing glance. 'Rich' she thought sarcastically, 'though I can't really judge them too harshly' She also came from money, being left quite a bit of it to keep her comfortable for the rest of her life.

She shook herself from those thoughts and went back to her sketch; it was of the kids dueling with their happy smiling faces. She loved to capture moments of complete joy with her pad, then it could never be forgotten. She looked fondly at the picture before her, her sketching abilities were only matched by her dueling skills.

Suddenly the sound of a D-wheel engine appeared not far from her, followed by the sound of car doors opening and closing and the happy chatter of children. Another wave of children came running down the hill heading for the playground or meeting with other children and joining their games; she'd been coming here for days and didn't recognize any of them. 'Maybe some type of daycare?' she thought turning to a new page.

One of the kids began yelling a name over and over, "Big brother Crow! Big brother Crow! Come play with us!" the dark haired girl blinked, 'Crow? That's a strange name.' just as she thought that said person came walking down the hill, "Yeah, yeah squirts. I'm coming!" Her eyes widened at the sight of him; a short man, well short to some, but taller than her, with spiky orange hair, grey eyes and multiple yellow tattoo's all over his face. He wore a brown vest with an orange muscle shirt and green cargo pants that were tucked into his brown boots and gray arm warmers.

Beside him walked a dark skinned lady with dark brown hair and a maroon dress, she didn't look young but she didn't look old either. But her dark brown eyes shone with happiness and strength.

The blue eyed girl was more focused however on the guy with her; he was definitely different from the people who usually came to this park, _way_ different. He didn't seem to care about the stares he got from the moms or even from some of the kids. He still smiled without a care in the world as he chased some kids around, as she stared in awe she could feel her heart about ready to stop because of how beautiful he looked in that moment.

She blinked, '_Beautiful?_ Have I lost my mind? I can't just go around calling random guys beautiful.' Glancing back up again she didn't see him anymore, she quickly scanned the area and found him standing near the jungle gym, but he wasn't staring at the kids as the mothers were. He was looking the opposite direction, almost like he was...but he couldn't right?

She looked around her to see if maybe someone was standing there being a creep, or if maybe there was some sort of common on the street behind her. No dice on either, which left one option as she looked back in his direction; he was staring at her. The look in his steel eyes made her squirm slightly, and it wasn't until he started walking toward her that she panicked.

Quickly shoving her pencil and pad into her bag she practically jumped up from her spot, 'Wait a second! Why the heck am I freaking out? It's a public park, I can sit here if I want too.' Though she reasoned this out inside her head, her heart didn't seem to want to slow down as he got closer. She looked around desperate to escape his intense gaze, but what caught her gaze wasn't exactly what she thought she was going to see here.

Standing not far off was a man with bright blue spiked hair and yellow eyes in a long black trench coat with matching pants and boots; he was kneeling down speaking to one of the children that that guy came with. She shook her head and attempted to walk away, but the man reached out and grabbed her around the waist and placing his hand over her mouth.

The dark haired girl frowned and pulled her duel disk out of her bag, 'Oh no you don't!' slipping the disk onto her arm as she quickly ran to cut him off, appearing just in time as he halted to a stop in front of her. "What the hell? Who are you?" her pale blue eyes flashed as she drew a card from her deck and placed it on the disk, "You're worst nightmare punk. Go, Red Eyes Black Chick!"

A tiny black dragon with red eyes appeared before her letting out a tiny growl, the man before her laughed. "What the hell do you think you're gonna do with a hologram? Outta the way dummy!" she narrowed her eyes and snapped her fingers, Red Eyes Black Chick blew fire at the ground where he was standing stopping him in his tracks.

"Shit! That's real! You're a psychic duelist!" she turned the name around in her head, "I don't really know what that is, but I suggest you let that little girl go. Cuz my dragon here may be cute, but he isn't really known for his patience. In fact, neither am I." she said narrowing her eyes.

The man seemed to be looking for a way out; she smiled when defeat found its way into his eyes. "Fine! You win, _this_ time!" and with that he dropped the crying girl to the ground and ran into the trees. The dark haired girl breathed a sigh of relief; she walked up to the crying girl and kneeled down a few feet away. "Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?"

The little brunette sniffled, "N-no. I-I was so scared! He-he said he lost his sister and when I told him I didn't know her and he grabbed me!" she started crying again anew, the dark haired girl sighed and gently patted the little girl on the head, "It's ok now, you're safe. He's not gonna hurt you anymore." But the girl just continued to cry, "Alright, how about this. If you stop crying I will let you pet my friend Red Eyes Black Chick huh?" she tried with a smile.

The girl looked at the Duel monster behind her and surprisingly enough stopped crying, "C-can I really?" Smiling she nodded, the brunette smiled and cheered. "Yay! Thank you so much!" The blue eyed girl wasn't sure what she was thanking her for, but decided not to think it over to much.

She stood as the little black dragon landed in her arms, growling contently. Kneeling down again she looked at the little girl, "Don't worry, he won't bite. Will you buddy?" The dragon let out a sound similar to a baby lion and the little girl laughed before reaching her hand out and gently stroking his head.

The girl stared in awe, "He's so warm!" fast footsteps brought her from the scene in front of her, as the guy from earlier appeared in front of them. "Alisha!" The dark haired girl quickly stood up and sent the dragon back to his plane; she backed up as the man hugged the little girl.

"What happened? One second you were there, the next you were gone! Are you ok?" extreme worry was evident in his steel colored eyes. "I'm sorry big brother! This man tried to kidnap me! But this nice lady came along and saved me, then she let me pet her duel monster!" the dark haired girl blinked, 'well that's one way to sum it all up.'

The man, Crow, stood up and looked at her. She blushed and looked away; she could probably guess what face he was making. The same face she had been receiving all her life; disgust. 'I suppose I should be used to that by now.' She thought sadly backing up more.

She turned off her duel disk and let her hand fall to her side, turning away. To see a look of disgust on such a beautiful face would be too much for her to bear, "It's no big deal. Just try to keep a better eye on things huh?" she laughed dryly and began to walk away.

A hand on her arm forced her to stop; she turned surprised to see not disgust filled features but surprise and…happiness? "Hey, don't go yet. I want to thank you." Her eyes widened, "Really, it's no big deal." He shook his head, "No, it's a huge deal. These kids, they're like my family. They mean everything to me, so saving even one of them is monumental to me, ya know?"

She didn't know what to say; in truth she didn't know how that felt; no one ever tried. She cringed at that thought; she really didn't want to think about that. "I don't have much, but how about I treat you to something to eat as thanks? I mean it's the least I can do." Crow didn't look at her as he said this, and he was rubbing the back of his head.

"Um…" she replied intelligently, "Oh please eat with us miss! Then you can show us your duel monster cards and maybe bring them to life again!" the little girl said hopefully. Crow laughed, "I don't think Yusei or Jack would appreciate that too much! But seriously! You should come! I'm sure they won't mind."

They both looked at her expectantly; she wasn't sure what to say really. No one had ever invited her to eat after finding out about her abilities, 'then again, what could it hurt to have one little meal with them?' she thought.

Finally she nodded her head, "A-alright. Sure, let me just get my bag. I think I left it where I was sitting." She said thoughtfully. She hoped it was there anyway, she couldn't really remember what she had done with it in all the excitement. Crow pulled something off his shoulder, "You mean this?" he said holding up a dingy orange messenger bag, now with the added effect of dirt.

"Where did you…" he laughed again, "I kinda got distracted when I was coming to talk to you earlier. When I looked back again all I saw was your bag, I thought you bolted." He laughed nervously, "I was gonna return it to ya, I swear." She blinked, "That…wasn't what I was thinking. But thanks, I appreciate you picking it up for me." She smiled slightly as she said this.

A faint blush dusted Crow's cheeks as he scratched his head again, his eyes widened suddenly. "Oh! I guess I should introduce myself, the names Crow Hogan!" She didn't want to tell him she already knew, so she replied instead. "My name's Raven, its nice to meet you Crow." He blinked then laughed.

"Well it's nice to meet another bird! Come on, I need to tell Martha what happened then I can give you a ride back to my place on the Blackbird." Raven assumed that was what he chooses to call his D-wheel, she shook her head. "That's alright; I have a runner of my own right up the hill. I can just follow you if you want."

He smiled again, "Killer! I can't wait to see it! Just pull around to the parking lot and we can head out." She nodded and waited till him and the little girl began walking back toward the play ground. She sighed as she walked toward her own runner, 'What a day. I have a feeling I'm going to need a nap after this is over.'

* * *

She pulled her D-wheel next to what looked like the Black bird, as it looked very similar to a crow and what looked to be wings folded up on the rear. That and it being _black_ was a very big hint. Parked next to it was a white van that the rest of the kids probably rode in.

Raven climbed off her runner and leaned against it, she didn't have to wait long before the wave of children she saw earlier come rushing back up the hill, right toward her. Her eyes widened as she was suddenly surrounded, all of them talking at once. "Can we pet your duel monster too? Is this your duel runner? It's so cool! Can I ride it? Can we see your other monsters?" She didn't really know how to respond.

A stern female voice rang out behind them, "Children! Don't crowd the poor girl! You're scaring her half to death." All at once the children replied with a high pitched, "Yes Martha!" Crow came up along side her, and smiled as soon as he saw her. 'Weird.'

"Alright you brats, back into the car we gotta head home now to start dinner." They replied with another high pitched reply and piled back into the van, Crow closed the door behind them then turned and walked up to her. Raven stood straight, she could tell without even asking this woman deserved her complete respect. Suddenly her arms were around her, Raven's eyes widened, "Thank you. Thank you for saving my kids." She blushed, not sure how to react to this sudden display of affection.

But just as it began it was done, Martha stepped back dusting off Raven's black jacket. "I expect you will be joining us for dinner?" even though it was posed as a question, Raven knew it really was a command and nodded quickly. Martha smiled, "Good!" and just like that she walked away and into the van quickly driving off. Leaving Raven standing there blinking in surprise, 'that was…unexpected.'

"She can be kind of scary sometimes, but don't let it get to you. She's a really kind hearted person." Crow said as he stood in front of his D-wheel, "She seems like it. Cool Runner by the way, it matches you." He laughed, "Thanks! So does yours!"

Her D-wheel was pretty simple, its base color was black the head of the bike curved over the front tire to look like the face of a bird with eyes that were a dark purple and what looked to be tail feathers coming out of the back of the boosters, the ends also tinted dark purple.

It wasn't fancy, but she was proud to have it. "T-thanks. Shall we go?" Crow nodded already on his runner and slipping his helmet on, which also had black feathers tinted with gold coming out of the sides. Hers was similar except the ends and eye shield was tinted purple, it was after all her favorite color.

After revving their engines a few times they sped out of the parking lot and down the street.

~0~0~

The ride was short, Raven noticed as they pulled into the garage of an art studio called Poppo Time. Inside the garage were two other runners, one shaped like a giant wheel that seemed vaguely familiar and one that red with black handrails that also seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn't really place either of them. She parked hers next to the wall, not wanting to intrude incase she was in someone else's spot.

She watched as Crow hopped off his runner and walked up the stairs, tossing his helmet off in the process. "You can just hang out down there if you want, there's a couch over there you can sit on. I'm gonna get a shower before we go." She nodded as he left, leaving her alone in this strange place.

She took off her helmet and after placing it on her runner she walked around the others before reaching the couch Crow had mentioned, she could hear water running upstairs. The place, despite being kind of empty felt…homey, like a place anyone would feel safe.

Against the wall in front of her was a computer, with stacks of paper beside it and a bunch of tools underneath. Upon closer inspection, the papers were notes a blue prints for D-wheels, whoever owned this stuff I was an amazing mechanic. Not far from that was a stack of ramen bowls, 'ok, someone is a little to obsessed with ramen..' she thought with a giggle.

Voices yelling from outside shocked her, she hit behind the arm of the couch as they got closer. "Hmph! How dare that man talk to me, Jack Atlas that way! He wouldn't know a good worker if one bit him in the butt!" "Jack, come on. It was your fault he fired you, the whole point of a job is to actually do work. Not make other people do it for you."

The voices sounded familiar too, but again she couldn't place them. Suddenly two men walked through the door of the garage, one was blonde with amethyst eyes and clad in a white trench coat and the other had raven black hair with gold streaks running through them with cobalt eyes and tanned skin, he was much taller than Crow but sorter than the blonde man he stood next too, he wore a blue jacket with a black top and brown gloves and boots his black pants tucked into them.

Said raven haired guy stopped when he saw her D-wheel parked there, "Are we supposed to have a guest?" he asked the blonde man, "How the duce should I know! As long as whoever it is stays away from my Wheel of Fortune then I don't care." He walked, or strutted past her runner and toward the couch. As quietly as she could she moved from the side to the back hoping that neither would notice her presence.

Luckily the she felt the blonde sit heavily against the couch; she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She wasn't very good with new people, or people in general. Of course that tended to happen when you spent everyday getting disgusted looks and rocks thrown at you, she buried her face in her knees wishing Crow would hurry up.

Suddenly footsteps walked right past her, she curled tighter into herself desperately hoping that they wouldn't see her, her heart stopped when the foot steps stop then scuff as the person turned. "What are you looking at Yusei?" Raven peeked through her bangs and saw the man with cobalt eyes staring right at her, she gasped.

The couch moved behind her as its occupant turned, no doubt from hearing her frightened sound. "Who the duces are you?" he yelled causing her to jump from her spot, turning toward the voice. The blonde was now off the couch and standing, looking extremely angry.

He took a step around the couch; she made a strangled sound and scurried toward the wall but he kept coming. "Jack stop!" the guy with the spiked black hair yelled, but the blonde didn't stop. Raven closed her eyes, her heart pounding she could feel the power begin to raise her hair, flailing slightly as she looked at the stacks of paper. Then they flew across the room toward the blonde, knocking him back onto the couch.

"What the hell?" he tried to get up again but was knocked back by a ramen bowl, each time he tried to rise he would be hit with another one. Raven didn't want to hurt him, just keep him from reaching her, the dark haired male didn't move from his spot. It saved him from the ramen attack.

She looked at him expecting to see disgust or terror; she was surprised when all she saw was a look a curiosity and a smile. 'He finds this _funny?_' she looked back at the blonde attempting to swat the ramen that kept flying at him, she had to admit it was quite the sight. She giggled, causing the raven haired male to look at her.

This time however he did start coming toward her, the ramen bowl moved from the blonde and into his path. He stopped and looked straight into her eyes, "its ok, we aren't going to hurt you. Everything's ok alright? Jack is sorry for scaring you." "Like hell I am! She's attacking _me_!" she tossed another ramen bowl at his head before it dropped to the ground. She stared into the raven's eyes; and could tell he wasn't lying. She nodded as the ramen and papers each went back to their respective places on the table.

"Jack, why don't you go upstairs and change for dinner. You've got dust everywhere." The blonde breathed out an aggravated sigh, "Of course! Jack Atlas doesn't walk around with even a smudge of dirt on!" he glared at her before strutting up the stairs, "He's gone, and you can relax. Are you alright? I know he scared you, I'm sorry. He was just surprised is all."

He patted the couch, "why don't you come sit down? I'll get you something to drink," With that he walked over to the sink, hesitantly she got up and slowly made her way over to the furniture. 'This was such a bad idea.' She thought sitting down again, the man brought a glass full of water and placed it on the coffee table in front of her before going and leaning against the desk.

"T-Thank you…" she replied taking a sip, he nodded. "Are you feeling better?" 'Truthfully? I just wanna go home now.' She thought, but didn't answer. The man sighed, "Well anyway, my name is Yusei Fudo." "Ah…I'm Raven. Sorry about throwing your stuff." She replied with a blush.

He brushed it off, "It's no big deal, and Jack kind of deserved it. So you're a psychic duelist? That's cool." 'That word again. What the heck is that?' she thought, "Well I-"but she was cut off by a voice from the stairs, "Hey Yus, what's up with Jack? He looks like he got attacked by a dust rag!" Crow said as he walked down the stairs. Yusei laughed, "Something like that. Let's just say he got on the wrong side of our guest here."

Crow raised an eyebrow, and then laughed, "Oh man! That's awesome! I wish I had seen that!" he held his side, Raven wasn't sure it was that funny but wasn't willing to tell him otherwise. "Is she a friend of yours Crow?" Yusei asked pointing to her.

"Not really." She said.

"Yeah!" Crow replied.

Raven stared at him, 'is this guy _insane_?' Yusei raised a brow, and then shrugged. "Well whatever, just be sure not to make a mess when Jack comes back down." He said giving her a small smile, she blushed again and bowed her head. "I'm sorry."

Crow came up behind her, "Hey, don't worry about it! Our friend Akiza made a way bigger mess when we first met her!" she jumped at this, "What do you mean?" he flashed her a smile that made her heart pound before replying, "Yeah, she's a psychic duelist like you are! But man did she have a lot less control, uh but she is way better now." He said scratching his head in embarrassment.

She stared at him, 'Someone like me? How? And what the heck is a psychic duelist?' Before she could even voice these thoughts Crow turned toward the clock hanging on the wall and looked toward the stairs. "Jack, come on! Martha is gonna kill us if we're late again!" she heard a grumbling that sounded like "Perfection cannot be rushed." Or something like that. That guy, Jack, seemed like that type of person, though she had never met a person who referred to themselves in the third person before.

But not long after did the blonde reenter, freshly clothed. She stared down at the now empty cup in her hands, but she could see from her peripheral vision as he stared heatedly at her before strutting back through the door he came in earlier. She sighed, 'Geeze, that guy is scary. Wait a second…did Crow say…'

"Umm, is that guy…coming too?" Crow looked at her and smiled again, "Well duh, Martha is like our mom. We wouldn't miss dinner with her for the world!" she groaned, suddenly not that hungry. Yusei and Crow just looked at each other with confused looks.

~0~0~

After a relatively short walk to Martha's Raven now stood inside a small two story house, on her left was a staircase which children were running up and down. In front was a long hall which apparently veered off toward the clinic that was also here. She followed the three boys a little down the hall and around a corner to a dinning room already set, at the far end of the room was a window that looked out into the yard and onto the kids playing hide and seek.

"Boys! It's so good to see you!" she jumped back as Martha appeared from the door way, an apron tied around her waist. She wrapped her arms around all three of them, smiling happily. Raven felt like she was intruding on a family moment, it made her uncomfortable. They began talking about this and that, it made her remember her own parents. They would stand around and talk with her about everything, there was no secrets between them. At least that's what she thought…

Martha calling her name pulled her from her thoughts, "It's so great of you to join us! There's no way I will ever be able to thank you, but I suppose this would be a start." She wasn't sure how to respond to her gratitude, no one had ever thanked her before. "I-it's no big deal, really. I'm sure anyone would have done it, I just happened to be there." Martha rubbed her arm, "Nonsense! You were there, which means you were meant to be there and we were meant to meet. Now please sit down, I'm sure you're tired from being with these trouble makers all day."

With that she was pushed into one of the seats at the table as Martha walked back into the kitchen, the smell home cooked food wafting out as the door opened and closed behind her. She was surprised, even though they had just met this women treated her as an honored guest. Maybe it was a good thing she came here? She smiled as a warm feeling filled her heart; Crow walked over and lightly tapped her shoulder. "It's about time you smiled!" he smiled as he said this.

She blushed, and got up again. Crow had that strange look in his eyes again that make her heart do funny things, Jack had already settled down at a seat on the far end of the table, she thanked her lucky stars for that, and Yusei had left to see too a broken computer. "I'm uh, gonna go see if Martha needs any help." She didn't wait for a reply before she quickly retreated behind the doors.

Inside she saw Martha briskly walking around the kitchen, going between pots of cooking food and the fridge to get more food out. Martha didn't seem to notice her walk in, she cleared her throat catching the woman's attention, "Oh Raven, you scared me! What can I do for you?" she looked around nervously, "W-well I came to see if you needed any help. I'm pretty good at cooking you see, and I thought maybe…" she trailed off realizing she was babbling.

The woman smiled, "I would love some help dear! Why don't you put up your hair then wash your hands and you can start on the stew for me?" Raven smiled, and did as she instructed.

* * *

Raven put the lid on the boiling pot and turned off the fire, she smiled as she looked at everything they finished. There was enough food here to feed a small army, and even scraps left to feed the dogs.

Martha was collecting everyone at the table and getting plates to fill, Raven laughed as she remembered Martha tasting her stew, I woman nearly fainted at how good it was. "Raven dear! You said you were good, but this is incredible!" she smiled; it was her mother's recipe and never failed to impress.

Walking to the sink, she began to wash her hands again. All the vegetables and spices had made her hands smell funny; Martha came in as she was drying her hands, the woman's arms filled with plates. "Here, let me help." Martha handed her some and she went to fill them with food.

She wasn't sure how she managed it, but when she left the kitchen she had five plates and got them on the table without spilling or breaking anything. Martha of course was more impressive as she carried another six plates out and placed them on the table, she wiped her brow and smiled. "Hmm, now where is everyone? I told them five minutes. "

"I can get them; I think I hear Crow and Jack outside." And with that she left the room.

Raven heard Crow yelling even before she got out the door, they had somehow gotten a hold of Crow's headband and were running and tossing it between them. It was funny seeing him so flustered, but he was clearly playing along. She smiled, "What an idiot, running around getting his clothes all dirty right before dinner." A voice said from beside her.

She turned and jumped at least three feet away, that blonde guy, Jack? Was standing right next to her, "What the duce? I'm not going to attack you, so you can relax." When she didn't reply he hmph'ed and went inside, when she was sure he was gone she sighed. "So scary…"

Walking over to the group of kids still teasing Crow she cleared her throat, but that didn't seem to get their attention. "Umm…Excuse me?" she tried a little louder, still nothing. At this point she wished Jack-scary had stuck around. But as he didn't she was left with two options; use her powers, which she did not want to do, or try yelling louder, but she doubted her voice could go any louder.

As she was thinking however, she didn't see the kids begin tossing the headband closer and closer to where she was standing. Until finally a black haired child tossed it too hard, completely missing the child waiting to catch it, and landing smack dab in Raven's forehead. The object surprised her so much, she squeaked as her body fell hard to the ground.

The kids laughed but Crow ran over to her side, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry, are you alright?" he asked. Raven blushed slightly as his hand lightly touched her face as lifted the headband off her face, it was all she could do to nod without her heart pounding out of her chest.

Sitting up she rubbed her sore backside, hoping there wasn't a bruise forming. Crow lightly grasped her hand making her heart pound more, as a chorus of"ooh" and "aww's" rang. They both looked at the children as they started chanting the words, "Kiss" and "do it!"

Raven thought her heart would stop from how embarrassed she was, Crow jumped up his face just as red as hers, "You little nerds need to go inside, Martha probably has dinner ready." He shouted, the kids giggled and ran past them.

Crow scratched his head also blushing, he stuck his hand out. "Come on, Martha will be mad if we keep her waiting." She nodded still not looking at him and took his hand, she gasped as he pulled her up. She cleared her throat to distract herself and wiped the dirt off her clothes. "You're right. Let's go." She looked up and smiled as she began walking past him.

Unknown to Raven, Crow was still standing there after she left. His steel eyes wide in awe, he chuckled as he followed her.

* * *

The dinner was nice, great even. If not lively; Yusei told Martha how Jack had tried to attack her, resulting in said blonde to getting wacked by a spoon. Crow proceeded to laugh and crack jokes about him getting beaten by ramen bowls, which made Jack steal his food. Yusei told the kids about his latest project with the D-wheels, but got into so much detail that he lost everyone, Raven included.

'All and all it was a pretty fun night' she thought as she sat there listening to a conversation they were all having, the kids had been excused to get ready for bed. Raven discovered that these people were endlessly fascinating, telling stories of fighting something called "The Dark Signers" and something else about a dragon, though she didn't catch the rest as a tug on her sleeve pulled her attention.

Standing next to her was a boy around eight years old, with dark blonde hair that covered one of his light green eyes. He stood next to her hands balled and a frown on his face with light blue jeans and a blue t-shirt, "You should tell me a story before bed." He shouted, she blinked 'He kind of reminds me of someone…' stretching her arms, "Not if you're gonna ask like that." She settled back into the chair and closed her eyes.

She heard him stomp his foot in indignation and had to resist the urge not to giggle as she peaked through her lashes at his face, red and puffy like a fish. "Tell me a story now!" he yelled again, this had apparently gotten everyone else's attention as they were staring at them, "That's not how you ask someone for something squirt." Crow turned toward him and said. "I wasn't talking to you tattoo face." Crow growled, "Why you…"

Raven was getting a headache from all this, opening her eyes she looked the rude boy straight in the eye, "If you want something, I suggest you learn how to ask properly and not insult others." Her voice was hard and intense; she knew she had reached him when the wide eyed boy nodded, "Good." She smiled, "Now I believe you owe everyone here an apology for being rude and to Crow for calling him names."

The boy looked down and balled his fists again and bowed, "I…I'm sorry." She smiled and ruffled his hair, "See, now was that so hard? Why don't you go gather everyone in one place then come get me and I will tell you all a story." He looked at her, a slight frown on his face before nodding and running off.

Raven sighed and scratched her head, "I apologize for Nao's attitude, and he's been kind of a handful since he came." Martha said, Raven shook her head, "That boy is just very lonely, so he puts up a strong front. I don't take it personally; I was just like him when I was his age, though I suppose our circumstances are vastly different." She said with a smile.

"Speaking of, where are you from? It doesn't seem like you're from Neo Domino city." Yusei said, Raven had been hoping to avoid talking about her past, but decided it was ok to talk generalities. "You're right about that, I moved here a couple of weeks ago. I used to live in a town way east of here called, Alturas. But I definitely wouldn't recommend visiting." A chill went down her spine as memories of that horrible place came to mind.

"What do you mean? Surely it couldn't have been that horrible." She shook her head, "Trust me, only one type of people live there. And anyone who thinks or acts differently than them isn't exactly welcomed with open arms." She was rubbing holes in her pants as she said this; her heart was pounding so fast, she thought they could hear it.

Crow seemed to sense her agitation, and thankfully changed the subject to a man called Kalin who lived in Crash Town not far from here. She remembered seeing a town like that on a map when she first left Alturas. The way Crow and Yusei seemed to describe it, it was very western and seemed like a place she probably wouldn't want to visit, too many scary people with duel guns.

A person clearing their throat brought her from her thoughts, looking down she saw Nao was once again standing next too her only he was blushing and refused to look at her. 'How cute!' she thought, "Everyone is ready…" she smiled and nodded.

"Well then," she turned to Martha and the boys, "If you will excuse me." They nodded so she stood and took the child's lead out of the room.

* * *

Crow watched her walk out of the room, everything she did she seemed to do with the utmost grace. 'There's something different about her, that's for sure.' He thought as she disappeared around the corner.

"My, what a charming girl! I do hope I will be seeing more of her." Martha gave Crow and strange look that made him blush, though he had no idea why, but the thought of her being around more made him…happy. "Well I think she needs a lesson on how to treat a man of my stature." Jack said as he sipped his coffee, Crow didn't understand the man's dislike of the girl, it was his fault she pelted him with food.

"I think it would be a good idea for her and Akiza to meet, it would be good for both of them." Yusei said putting his chin on his hands, Crow nodded. He found it odd that she seemed so scared of people, but it kind of reminded him of how Akiza used to be. He knew about how bad her life had gotten as she grew up, but unlike Raven she got angry and took it out on people during duels.

Crow could only imagine what could have caused Raven to be deathly afraid of people, but it seemed like a sore subject and not something he wanted to pry into. The red head's ear suddenly picked up a strange sound, soft yet beautiful coming from inside the house, 'is someone….singing?' he thought as he listened closer.

"Alright, this is something my mother used to sing to me all the time. Promise not to make fun of my bad singing voice alright?" Raven said as the kids all nodded, she took a deep breath and began.

_"People tell me my heads in the clouds; I don't care what they say because I'm dreaming of you."_

A few awes sounded around her before they were shushed. _"You are the treasure I've found, so bright so bold yet so elusive_." She looked at the children as she continued.

_"Its hard to look away, even though it's blinding me. There are no words to describe how I feel inside; I'm really really stuck on you oh whoa."_

_"I have to follow my dreams however crazy they seem, and I won't stop till I get there you will see. You're all I need to have the strength to believe…Believe in wonderland!"_ She held the last word for a few seconds, and then smiled at the kids.

_"There is no limit to us we have the power of love. We don't wanna live ordinary lives, we have a chance to live in paradise, believe in wonderland!"_

* * *

Crow's eyes were wide, and his heart was beating fast. He couldn't believe what he just heard, it was beautiful yet heartbreaking. Martha sniffled and wiped a tear from her eye, "What a beautiful song. She is quite a talented girl." She gave Crow the look that made him blush.

Crow stood as he heard shuffling upstairs, the kid's most likely heading to bed. He walked out of the room as the clicking of boots came down the stairs. He made it there just as she hit the bottom step, blushing as she noticed him standing there. He scratched his head, a habit he picked up when he was nervous. "That was a great song, I really liked it." Her pale blue eyes widened for a second before her blush reached all the way up too her ears, she nodded in thanks.

Jack and Yusei came around the corner, "Looks like its time to head out." He smiled at her; she turned an even darker shade of red and nodded. Martha showed them to the door, hugging each of them, Raven included. Crow was the last one out the door and as Martha hugged him tightly she whispered in his ear, "I do expect we will be seeing more of this girl." The warm feeling appeared in his chest again and he nodded.

~0~0~

The walk back had been short and quiet, Raven hadn't said much. That is until Yusei brought up Akiza, she seemed intrigued by her having psychic abilities similar to hers. Crow noticed though that whenever anyone said 'Psychic Duelist' she got this confused look on her face. He decided to check, "Raven, do you know what a psychic duelist is?"

She immediately shook her head.

Crow was at a loss for words, "Where did you say you grew up again? Cuz from the sounds of it was under a rock, it's you ya idiot!" He didn't mean to say it, but it just kinda slipped out. Crow had never wanted to take words back until the moment he looked into her eyes and saw the shame, embarrassment, and anger. "Thanks for clarifying, I think I'm gonna head back to my rock now." She replied as she ran toward the loft.

"Well that was brilliant Crow." Jack said still walking, Yusei looked at me "I'm gonna have to agree with Jack here. That was not your best line." Crow hit his face with the palm of his hand; he screamed in frustration and ran after her as fast as his feet would go.

By the time he reached the loft ten minutes later though, Raven and her runner were already gone. He kicked the wall and ran a hand through his hair there was a pain in his chest, "Why am I such an idiot!" he cried.

* * *

_**Well there you have it! I do hope you liked it at least a little! If you did please R&R and I will be happy to upload the new chapters! The song she sang in this chapter is the first English opening of One Piece BTW! Till next time! **_

_**Love ya! :D**_


	2. Apologies

**_Hello hello again! I would like to thank my very lovely reviewer for their kind words and 666Grimmjow666 along with Star-Rose-Lover for reviewing my story! Without all of you this chapter would not have been posted. _**

**_Disclaimer: I own only my OC and the plot, everything else belongs to the creator of Yugioh 5Ds!_**

* * *

The dark haired girl couldn't believe it at first; she thought her ears must have been deceiving her. But when she saw the look of shock come over his face she knew, it was true. She drove as fast as she could, not really looking where she was going just driving. 'I'm such a fool! Who was I kidding; I just met them I should have known not to trust their nice-ness! Stupid Raven, stupid!'

She had said this over and over as she drove; she had long since passed the Daedalus Bridge and was now in what used to be considered the Satellite, though most of it had been rebuilt there was still parts that had yet to be either torn down or remolded. Raven saw the sign that said this part was going to be torn down for more housing, deciding this was the best place to work off her frustration she parked her runner and took off her helmet.

~0~

After about an hour or so of destroying a building she decided it would probably be in her best interest to make herself scarce before Sector Security showed up, she kicked a piece of rubble, 'I'm sure they would have noticed _this_' in front of her was the remains of a worn down building that was ready to come down anyway, it was leaning sideways for crying out loud.

She shrugged though; the city could consider this a public service for all she cared. The frustration had dissipated for a moment but she could feel it still, not to mention the look on Crow's face kept popping up. She let out a loud sigh, "Foolish girl. You should know better by now." She instinctually touched just below her left shoulder as she said this.

"Heh, no kidding girlie!" she gasped as a man with triangle shaped sunglasses stepped out from the shadows, more men appeared around her all wearing the same tacky sunglasses. The first guy walked up to her and gripped her tightly around her waist, "Aren't you a pretty thing and a psychic duelist too boot!" Raven narrowed her eyes, his breath reeked of alcohol and smoke, and it made her want to puke as she tried to wiggle out of his hold.

When she couldn't get out she decided to make him let go, so she focused her energy and pushed him back against the building behind him. Two others tried to grab her but she pushed them back turning away from the one with the horrible breath. It was a mistake on her part; horrible breath punched her in the jaw just as she turned.

That was a mistake on his part. "Fine, you wanna go. Let's go!"

The first thing she became aware of was a pounding, or a banging sound. Raven wasn't sure which but it made her head hurt, that and the sunshine was the shinning through the window in her bedroom. She winced as she got up and felt the bruises from the previous night. "Those guys sure did on number on you, but I don't think they will bother anyone for a while. I'm such a do-gooder." She laughed dryly at this.

After she had beat the thugs senseless she had come straight home and fell asleep, now she was paying the price of using her power too much. Everything seemed to hurt. She noticed however the pounding didn't seem to stop though; it wasn't coming from her head however. "Ugh, who would be at my door?"

She begrudgingly climbed out of bed and put on a sweater, she had fallen asleep in a pair of black sweats and a blue tank top and didn't want to show the visitor more skin than necessary. Her apartment was small, but nice; the door of her bedroom just down the hall from the living room with an adjoined kitchen and a bathroom right across the hall from her bedroom. She didn't own a TV but she made up for it with shelf after shelf of books, and a large black couch shaped like a L that the previous owner had given her.

It was small and didn't have much, but she loved it. What she didn't love however, was the constant pounding that was coming from her front door, the person on the other side was being annoyingly persistent. "Blackbird Delivery!" she raised a brow, "I didn't order anything…ugh, it must be for Ms. Carrie next door. I keep telling her to put up a new letter on her door."

A few days ago, her next door neighbors 'I' came off the door. So she decided instead of paying to get a new one she would just paint it on, sadly the women was seventy and had a very shaky grip. Meaning her 'I' ended up looking just like raven's 'L'. Said girl sighed.

The pounding got louder, she glared at the door. "Yes, yes I'm coming! Geeze, so impatient." She opened the door as she said this, her eyes got wide as she saw who was on the other side. Crow stood there with a bright yellow jacket on, the emblem reading "Black bird Delivery" with a tiny crow next too it. In his hand he held a box marked for none other than Ms. Carrie next door.

"R-Raven? You live here?" she folded her arms; 'I so don't wanna see him right now!' she nodded in response. "Oh! Well, that's cool! So um did you order a delivery?" she sighed, "No, your looking for 2I not 2L." she pointed across the hall to the ladies door. She yawned, "Now if you'll excuse me." And tried to shut the door, Crow stuck his foot in the door preventing this.

"Wait! I uh…I wanna apologize for last night! I was outta line with what I said. It wasn't cool, I'm sorry." Raven sighed again, but conceded defeat when she looked into his eyes. "Go deliver the package, we can talk after." With that she walked away leaving the door open.

~0~

It was quite a deal later as Crow re-entered her apartment, so much time in fact Raven had brushed her teeth and fixed her hair and gone to the kitchen to make breakfast. By the look on his face she assumed the elderly women had told him the story of her dueling days, which was one story a person could only sit through once, and she guessed the elderly woman had left him off half way.

She took pity on him; the story itself was punishment enough. "You can go ahead and sit on the couch, will fruit tea be alright? I don't have anything else at the moment."

"Yeah, that's fine." She heard the couch creek and a very audible sigh, resisting the urge to giggle she poured the tea and walked out. Seeing him sitting there on her couch brought a warm feeling to her chest, almost like seeing him there was a natural thing. She shook her head and gave him the cup before sitting next to him legs tucked under her.

He drank the tea in one gulp and placed the empty cup on her coffee table, "I really am sorry ya know." She waved him off, "I know, I'm not mad well not anymore. I think one of Ms. Carrie's stories is more punishment than I could ever dish out." She laughed as his face paled.

"You have a pretty laugh. You should do it more." He said smiling at her, blushing she sipped her tea. "A-anyway, I wanna be friends with you, so it killed me last night that I hurt you like that." Crow didn't look at her as he said this, but she could feel the truth in his words. It shocked her; nobody had ever said that they wanted to be her 'friend'. It felt weird; nice, but weird.

She drank the rest of her tea before placing it next to its companion, "I think you need you understand more about where I came from in order to do that. If you have time, will you listen?" she looked right into his eyes as she said this, he gazed back nodding. "I'm pretty much done with my deliveries for right now."

She nodded; talking about this was going to be cutting it close to her wounds. But something inside told her it was right to put at least some of the truth in his hands. "Alturas is a town not far east from here. The people there are extremely narrow minded, and live in a time where religion rules. From the day someone is born into life there they are guided by the set rules; you must attend mass three times a day, every meal begins with praying to the savior. Stuff like that," she clasped her hands too keep them from shaking, as they most likely were.

"In this place dueling is considered a ritual act, and must only be done by the men. Women were strictly forbidden from doing this. Anyone caught acting against this rule was beaten without mercy then doused with holy water." She shivered as she remembered this. "Everyone is taught is act, think, and be the way it is written in this scripture. And anyone who is different is taught the 'Wrath of the savior' for being a hieratic. They consider it saving when all they do is beat someone until nothing of their soul remains." She could feel tears in her eyes but she blinked them away.

"The people born there do not mind this inhuman behavior; it's all they've ever known. But for an outsider, it is hell on earth until the moment you leave. And even after one does not simply forget what happened, it remains and eventually scars." She removed her sweater to prove her point; her arms were filled with scars from brutal beatings. But that's not what she was showing him; on her left arm just beneath her shoulder was what was burned into her skin. It was the shape of a cross with four triangles of light coming out of the corners.

She couldn't look at his face as she showed him this, but she knew he was staring at it. At the mark she had earned for being born a freak, "This is the mark one gets when you are born outside the social norm; it shows everyone that you are a devils advocate. That your soul _needs_ saving." She quickly covered it up; she couldn't bear to let it see the light. She could no longer talk, her heart hurt too much.

Raven just stared at her lap, waiting for him to say something. "Because you were born a psychic duelist, they gave you that?" his voice was grave, and sad and….angry? She didn't have time to look up as Crow was suddenly on top on her, arms wrapping securely around her back. Her eyes were wide, "C-Crow?"

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry you had to go through that. But I promise, no one here will hurt you like that. Yusei, Akiza, me, and even Jack; we'll protect you! We'll be your friends, and friends wont' do that, ever." His arms wrapped tighter around her as he said this, Raven could feel the truth in his words and relaxed in his embrace, "Oh Crow, thank you." She whispered as a small tear made its way down her cheek.

'Maybe I can trust these guys after all.' She thought silently.

Crow was shocked, his childhood was tough yes. And growing up in the Satellite wasn't easy, but it was cake compared to living your life being beaten and having religious mumbo jumbo being shoved down your throat. As he listened to her story and feeling rose in his chest, anger yes. But also a deep sadness for the girl sitting in front of him, attempting to hide her tears through her bangs, before he was even conscious of it he had her wrapped tightly in his arms.

This girl whom he had just met the day before, who he barely knew and under normal circumstances would be less trusting of her quiet innocence. But this was not the Satellite, and she was more than a normal girl.

He heard her sniffle, "Hahaha I'm sorry I don't know why I'm crying." He chuckled, but held her tighter. "You don't have to apologize, take all the time you need." He said gently rubbing her back. After a while, they awkwardly let go both blushing red and looking anywhere but at each other.

Because of this Crow was surprised when she suddenly started laughing, he blinked thinking she had gone insane. "S-sorry, I was just thinking how funny it is that we just met yesterday and now I'm telling you my life story and then we hugged. I always assumed normal people would run like maniacs from me," she looked up at him with a bright smile then, "You're quite the incredible person Crow Hogan."

His amber eyes widened as a blush as bright as his hair touched his cheeks, even he knew his behavior around her was pretty weird, he just felt somewhere deep in his heart that he needed her by his side. He shook his head at this, 'That's insane! I sound like some creepy stalker!'

Crow knew this but this need still remained, he gasped as he remembered something else important. Though he was glad to not have to think too much about this at the moment, "Do you wanna come over, Akiza is coming with the twins after school. You could meet them if you want…"

He trailed off at the look on her face, she clearly wasn't comfortable with large groups of people though she did try to hide it, but he saw the fear and anxiety in her eyes.

"W-well you don't have too, if you don't feel well…"

Now that he looked closely she did seem tired, and there was a purple bruise on her cheek that he was sure wasn't there before. If he remembered correctly there were also bruises on her arms from when she showed him the burn marks, like someone had held her arms tightly. Crow wasn't the type of person to pry into others lives, so he decided to ignore them for now; he was shaken from his thoughts as Raven shook her head.

"N-no that's not it, I just don't think that guy…Jack would like it if I came again, he seems scary."

Crow vaguely remembered Yusei telling him how Jack had made the mistake of attacking her, which he paid for by getting pelted with his own ramen bowls. The idea made him laugh, but he could understand her hesitancy.

"Don't worry about him; he will be out getting more Blue Eyes Mountain coffee instead of getting a job like he is supposed too. He should be gone most of the day doing that."

Raven's eyes widened, Crow guessed she had at least heard of it.

"Isn't that stuff like 36 dollars a cup?"

Crow nodded, it always made his blood boil when he saw Jack there emptying their savings on that damned coffee.

"Well…I suppose for a little while, I mean it's not like I have anything better to do." She said staring at her lap.

"Awesome! Though I think you should probably change your clothes, unless you usually go out in your pj's."

He laughed as a blush overtook her face; she quickly got up and looked at him unsure.

"Don't worry; I can just hang out here. I'm done with my deliveries today anyway."

She nodded, telling him to help himself to her kitchen if he got hungry. Only when he heard the water running did he breath a sigh, he also took this time to look around her place. Her lack of technology was a little strange but not surprising considering where she came from. All and all it was a nice apartment; he vaguely wondered how she afforded it.

He saw her dingy orange messenger bag sitting open on the table and remembered how she had watched the children yesterday, her blue eyes staring while her hand moved a mile a minute against the notebook that had slid out onto the table. His curiosity got the better of him as he picked it up and carefully turned to the first page.

His eyes widened again as he looked in awe at what was a flower, but it was artfully drawn. So real looking he felt he could reach out a touch it, he turned page after page. More amazed every time, he stopped when he reached the last page though.

The lines on this one more were more delicate but looked like they were drawn in a hurry, but with no less skill than any other picture. That wasn't the thing that startled him though; in his particular picture was him. The sun shinning down seeming to illuminate his eyes, smiling brightly at something in the distance, with his hands resting on his hips.

Crow was amazed; this girl he barely knew had captured a moment so inhumanly possible and gave it life on the paper.

He was shaken from his thoughts at the sound of a door closing, 'she probably wouldn't like to come out here and see me snooping through her stuff, though it is quite incredible.' He thought as he quickly stuffed it in back into her bag and shifted so that he was lying horizontal on the couch.

He quickly closed his eyes as footsteps came down the hall; she was humming a tune he hadn't heard before, passing him as she went kitchen behind him. A devilish smile appeared on his face as he got an idea, then he lay perfectly still.

Raven held a towel to her head as she dried her still dripping hair, she had on the same outfit from the day before but without her jacket on exposing her arms, looking in her fridge she found a small bottle of apple juice that looked very intriguing at the super market the other day. She opened it with a crack and took a sip, instantly falling in love with it.

It was then she noticed how quiet it was, she looked at the couch and didn't see Crow sitting there. 'Did he leave?' she thought as she walked over and looked over the couch, she blushed at the sight before her; Crow lay on his back one hand folded behind his head the other draped over his stomach, his eyes were shut and breathing contently.

She smiled at this sight, at how peaceful his features were. She also got a better look at his physique; his arms were slim but with toned muscles, the rest of his body seemed to match this and it was well strengthened. But it wasn't that that interested her the most, it was the golden marks on his face, on his forehead was one shaped like an capital 'M' with a circle next too it and under the corner of both of his eyes was triangles with winding lines going down each of his cheeks.

Raven thought they were beautiful and only added to his good looks, her eyes widened as she thought this. Then she noticed her hand, it had unconsciously gone out and was just an inch or so above the 'M' on his forehead. She quickly retracted it as he mumbled something, it sounded like he said her name….

She narrowed her eyes and moved closer to hear what he was saying, her hair falling around them as she stood hunched over the couch just an inch from his face. She held her breath as she did this, suddenly his eyes popped open and he jumped up toward her.

Before she could react or even think he had his lips pressed against her own, their eyes as wide as dinner plates as they stared at one another in shock. Crow pulled away first his face a bright shade of red, and turned away from her equally red face.

"S-Sorry… I was just gonna surprise you…I didn't think you would be so close." Raven looked away from him a strange pain rising in her chest; she looked at the floor and smiled sadly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm used too that. W-we should go!" she said as she slipped on her boots and jacket by the door.

"Ah! Wait! I-I didn't mean it like that!"

Raven smiled at him, putting up her best front as she grabbed her bag off the table in front of him; "I know. Really its okay, come on lets go."

He still looked worried but nodded and walked out with her.

* * *

_**Well there we have it! I do hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please review if you enjoyed it or even if you didn't. Comments help me make this story better! Till next time! :D**_


	3. Round Two

_**Hello again! I wasn't really sure how to approach this particular chapter because i wanted to include some dueling in there, so here's my attempt at that. ^_^" I would like to thank all the lovely people who reviewed on my story and those who Favorited it! Without you all this chapter would not have been written. Please enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: I really just own my OC and the plot. **_

* * *

Raven pulled her D-wheel into the garage she had run from the night before; it felt weird to be back now. Crow followed after her parking his next too her own, she slipped off her helmet and placed it on the seat as she climbed off, for some reason she felt nervous as she saw Yusei working on his own Runner.

He didn't seem to notice their presence though, even as Crow walked up to him saying his name over and over.

"Yus! Hey, anyone home in there?" When he received no response he shrugged and walked over to the fridge, glancing at her.

"Do you want something to drink? Akiza and the twins won't be here for a few minutes." She shook her head, as she walked up to Yusei, who was now mumbling something to himself. She glanced over his shoulder to see what he was poking at; when she couldn't make out his mumbling she looked at the small scanner that was sitting next to him. It flashed red with the words "Foreign object" in white on the screen, but it didn't say where.

She picked up the scanner and typed a code into it; Crow had by this time, noticed her and walked back looking over her shoulder. "That's not a toy you know, Yusei probably won't like you messing with it." She glanced at him and continued typing.

"Yes I know, it's a high intensity turbo scanner with wireless and remote capabilities. I'm just updating the program so that it shows a clearer picture of what's going on; then again it could just be a glitch with the system."

Crow scratched his head, not entirely sure what she said. Raven smiled, "It's just a long way of saying, 'Yes. This is not a toy.'" She giggled at the goofy smile that took over his face.

"I've never seen that type of code before, did you make it yourself?" she jumped nearly dropping the small computer as Yusei suddenly appeared next to her, she blushed as he stared at her intensely.

"N-No…M-My parents were geniuses when it came to duel runners and such. They taught me everything they knew before…umm…Yeah…" she trailed off when she realized what she was going to let slip, apparently she could no longer hold her tongue when it came to this people.

The scanner began beeping showing that it had completed her updates and was showing a clearer picture of the problem, Yusei nodded. Raven looked thoughtfully at the screen then handed it to Yusei,

"D-do you mind if I take a look?" he nodded and she leaned down under the runner.

Crow watched as Raven had done some serious programming work now she was crawling under Yusei's Duel Runner like she had done it a hundred times before. Yusei seemed impressed as she asked him questions about what the scanner said about this and that, she didn't seem as timid like this. It made him happy to watch her interact so casually with someone he considered his brother.

Crow would never admit it, but he felt that she _needed_ to be accepted by Jack, and Yusei. Then it would mean….what? He wasn't sure the answer to that right now, but he felt more at peace with her around. Like she was a piece of his puzzle that had been missing, he rolled his eyes.

'Now I'm comparing a girl I just met yesterday to a freaking puzzle! What the heck is wrong with me?'

Before he had time to contemplate this however he heard said girl yelp,

"Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah, can one of you hand me a flashlight? I think I found the foreign object." As she said this she stuck her hand out, Crow gasped as it was covered in blood with a cut going straight down her palm stopping right before her wrist.

"Raven! Your hand is cut!" Yusei said as he grabbed a clean rag and wrapped it around her hand, before putting the flash light in her hand.

"T-Thanks…" Crow would bet anything that she was blushing right up to her ears right now.

"There's…something stuck in here…Yusei is it near anything vital?" he glanced down at the scanner before saying no.

"Maybe I can get it; I don't want you to hurt yourself again." Yusei offered.

Raven slid back out, there were drops of blood on her face but she quickly wiped them away.

"No it's near the coupling link; my hands can barely fit in there. Whatever it is must have gotten sucked up during your last ride." She took off her jacket tossing it next to her before going back under. Crow blushed as he got a good look at her without it; cream colored skin that looked as soft as cashmere and a lean body that seemed like it was shaped perfectly for her. He started to wonder if her skin was as soft as it looked, or if she had any other hidden marks on her body.

Crow's face turned a beet red as this thought entered his brain, when he glanced over at Yusei to see him watching with a perplexed look he stood straight up with his hands in his pockets. He looked back again as he heard her whimper, it was low but he clearly heard it.

"Almost…" she said to no one, then they heard a mechanical pop as she brought something hard down against her. She quickly slid back out again breathing heavily, she handed Yusei the large piece of jagged glass before grabbing her jacket and practically running out of the place.

* * *

It hadn't bothered her at first; in fact it didn't even cross her mind. That is, until she felt the glass piece the skin of her uninjured palm a second time. That's when it hit her, the flash of the blade and sudden pain shooting up her arms, bound in front of her as tired blue eyes watched in abstract horror.

A metallic pop ended the vision, brought her back to the present. She quickly disposed on the thing covered in her blood and ran; her stomach was churning heart pounding fiercely inside her chest. Raven didn't know how far she ran until she finally had to stop, her lungs burning with the lack of air.

Leaning a hand against the wall she stared at the ground below her, vaguely aware of the footsteps coming towards her. Finally she felt it, her stomach lurching upwards into her throat.

Tears streamed down her face as she knelt to the ground retching what little she had for breakfast. But that wasn't enough, her body wanted to purge more; she began the process of dry heaving. The black curtain of hair that fell around her face moved as a hand was placed on her back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Shh…it's ok, just relax" a low voice said, she didn't even need to turn to know who it was as a single name rang though her mind; 'Crow…'

Raven wasn't sure how long it took for the heaves to subside, for her tears to dry, or how long she was leaning her back against Crow's chest. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against his shoulder, eyes snapping open a second later as a low crack filled the air.

"Here, gargle then drink. Slowly." She relaxed as he held a bottle of water to her lips; she did as she was told glad to have the disgusting taste from the back of her mouth out. Once satiated she moved the bottle from her mouth, breathing a sigh of relief, Crow's arms held her securely in place.

"Sorry, I will move in a minute." She said as her eyes closed again, she liked this feeling she had right now. _Peace._

"Take your time, just focus on breathing. That was a scary panic attack, do you wanna talk about it?" he asked speaking low.

"When I was younger, they tried to purify me by binding my arms in stone cuffs and stabbing knives into my hands. When my hands started bleeding inside the engine, I just…" she couldn't finish too afraid of panicking again.

"You flashed back to then…" he finished for her; she nodded as she attempted to stand straight again. Her head swam, but she managed to do it, out of sheer force of will if anything.

"Are you ok?" Raven turned to answer but the voice of a small boy cut her off,

"Crow there you are! We've got trouble; some thugs attacked us on our way back. They're holding Akiza and Luna hostage!"

The frantic boy had teal colored hair tied into a pony tail and yellow eyes, possibly the cutest little kid Raven had ever seen. The thought was shaken from her as Crow ran past, "Where are they?"

"In front of the garage, Yusei was trying to talk them down. They're looking for someone who beat up their members last night, but we kept telling them we didn't know anyone like that!" the boy frantically replied. Raven's eyes widened, 'it couldn't be…'

Crow nodded and looked back at her, "You should head back home, you'll be ok there." He said before running off with the teal haired boy in toe.

Raven shook her head, "No Crow, I won't."

* * *

Crow stopped when he reached the garage again, standing in front was a group of about twenty or so guys dressed in all black with strange triangle shaped sunglasses. In his opinion they looked the least bit menacing, but that was mostly due to his previous experience with actual duel gangs back in Satellite.

A few of the guys surrounded Akiza and Luna off too the side while Yusei and Jack stood there arms crossed, Crow could already tell that Yusei wasn't happy; his tense shoulders told him everything.

"Yusei, Jack! What the heck is going on?" he said as he walked up,

"These guys showed up after you left, said they were looking for your friend." Yusei replied quietly. "We tried to tell them we didn't know her, but they saw her runner. "

"Where the devil is that stupid girl? It's her fault we're in this mess!" Jack said, Crow wanted to say something about the comment but didn't think this was the time.

"Hey! We're waiting! Where is she?" said the guy standing in front, he had a short spiked up cut and while he was dressed like the others his jacket was wide open revealing massive muscles with tattoo's of things from devil's to dragons.

"That girl needs to pay for messing up my boys!"

Another piped up after, "Yeah! No one turns down a date with our boss!"

the man glared at him blushing."Shut up! They didn't need to know that!"

Crow narrowed his eyes, 'so this is the punk who gave her those bruises.' The thought of someone like him laying even a finger on her enraged him; he walked up to him intent on making him leave.

"Listen buddy, I know you're a sore loser and all but 'that girl' wants nothing more to do with you. So let our friends go and just get out of here before you embarrass yourself more." He said shooing them with his hands.

The leader grabbed Crow's collar lifting him off the ground, his breath reeked of smoke as he got right in his face. "You wanna say that again little man?"

Crow smirked, "You got beat by a girl and now you can't face the shame. You should just go hide in a hole, it would be less embarrassing."

The leader growled, as he pulled his arm back hand in a fist, "That's it!"

Crow expected to feel the pain of his punch; instead all he felt was the shock of his butt hitting the ground again.

"_That's enough!_" a voice said from behind him, lightning struck the ground in front of him making the giant of a man jump back. He heard the gangsters scream and yelp as more struck the ground around them, giving Akiza and Luna time to get over to Jack and Yusei.

Crow looked behind them as the lightning vanished; Raven was walking toward him, her duel runner behind her and a duel disk on her arm.

"Really, you guys lose majorly to one girl then come back just to embarrass yourself more? _Pathetic._" She said smirking as she came to stand a few feet away from him.

The leader smiled, "Heh, not likely bitch. I came to get revenge for last night, this is gonna be different than yesterday!" Raven's expression didn't change; she merely raised her duel disk.

"Fine, let's duel then. I win; you leave and don't bother me again." Crow stood up, hearing the frustration in her voice. The leader smiled,

"And if I win; you have to join my gang and be my girl." Raven narrowed her eyes.

"Fine. Let's duel!" she yelled as the disk activated,

"Raven stop! You can't just risk everything for us!" Crow yelled, she ignored him and drew her cards.

"Ladies first." The leader said, Raven nodded pulling another card.

"First I'll summon Masked Dragon in attack mode!" A large white and red winged dragon appeared before her, "then I will place two cards face down. That will do for now."

"Ha! That just had 1400 attack points! I put Hydrogeddon in attack mode; now attack her pathetic excuse of a monster!" The giant water creature shot a stream of water toward Raven's dragon; it stopped as a giant sphinx appeared above her.

"Seems you forgot about my face down cards, this one especially, it's called Ordeal of a Traveler. Now try and keep up, I will try to explain this as slowly as I can. Now you have to pick one of the cards in my hand and tell me the type. If you get it right, my monster goes poof, but if you get it wrong your monster gets sent back to your hand. Understand?" Crow stared not really sure of her strategy.

"Fine, I choose the last one on the left, it's a monster card."

Raven smiled and turned the card, Pot of Greed."Sorry looks like your monster gets sent back to your hand." The monster vanished leaving him very peeved.

Raven yawned, "Gosh, I remember this being more a challenge when I was kicking your butts yesterday. Guess I was mistaken." The leader got even more angry, Crow had to hand it too her; for someone who didn't grow up dueling she could really trash talk with the best of them.

"My turn!" she said as she drew another card before putting it in with the rest of her cards, "I will summon my Divine Dragon Ragnarok in attack mode." A giant silver Chinese dragon appeared.

"Yeah! Now she had two monsters she can attack him with!" Leo said excitedly, Crow agreed with the combined attack points of 1400 and 1500 she would definitely take a good chunk of his life points. Not to mention thanks to her psychic abilities the damage the leader would get would be more then enough pay back which is what made her next words even more shocking.

"I will then place one card face down and end my turn."

* * *

"What? Why the duce didn't you attack him?" Jack said,

"She has to be planning something, right guys?" the small teal haired girl replied back.

'I know what I'm doing; just have to wait a little bit longer.' She thought as her opponent drew his card, "Man, you must be dumber then you look for not attacking me last time. First I'll summon my Hyper Hammerhead in attack mode, and then play the field spell Jurassic World!"

The area around them changed and was filled with trees and an active volcano in the distance, "This card gives my Hammerhead a 300 point power boost."

Raven smirked, 'that's right dummy, play right into my hands.'

"Now attack her Masked Dragon!" his raptor ran forward and moved its hammer like head down on her dragon making it vanish, sending shockwaves toward her, she crashed to the ground as her life points went down too 3500.

The gangster leader began laughing as she stood up again, "You like that? Hahaha wait till you see what we're going to do when we get back to my place!"

Raven scrunched her nose, "I'd rather die, thanks." She replied disgusted.

"Before you end your turn I think you should know about my dragon's special ability; once it's destroyed in battle I can summon another dragon in its place with 1500 attack points or less. So I think I will bring out my Red-eyes black chick in attack mode."

"Heh! You think that little thing can beat my dino's? You're more insane then I gave you credit for. I end my turn." Raven rolled her eyes as she drew another card and sighed.

"Hmm…Looks like your time is up and as I expected you were a boring opponent." She dead panned at the end.

The guy looked at her dumbfounded, "What the hell are you talking about? My Hammerhead is the most powerful monster on the field." She smiled and glared at him.

"Like this; first I will summon my Luster Dragon in attack mode, then I will tune all three of my monsters to summon this: my Victory Dragon!" All three of her monsters vanished and in their place appeared a giant golden dragon with sharp talons and teeth.

"And before you go calling an attack or special effect I should let you know something." she shook her head, "My dragon doesn't like to fight monsters so I will activate my Lightning Vortex! Now all I have to do is send one card from my hand to the grave to send all your monsters to the graveyard." As she sent a card to the grave lightning came down destroying his Hammerhead.

"And I'm not done yet, and then I activate my Stamping Destruction spell card! With this since I have a dragon type on my side of the field I can destroy one spell or trap card on your side, and I choose your face down!" her dragon flew into the air and stomped down onto his card revealing Negate Attack.

The leader screamed as he realized what was happening,

"W-wait a sec! can't we at least come to-" Raven narrowed her eyes

"No. You attack the people nice enough to keep me around even with all the shit in my life and you expect me to hold back. No way, now when my Victory dragon attacks you directly you can say bye bye to all your life points."

Raven could feel her powers flow as her anger got out of control but she couldn't help it, Crow would probably never speak to her again and she would once again lose someone she cared about. She wasn't even sure when he had become so important to her just that he had, and she was going to be damned if she lost him to anyone.

"Victory Dragon, attack him directly and end this duel!" her dragon roared as it shot fire out toward the gangster leader, she heard him scream in pain before collapsing to the ground out cold.

"And that is that," she looked at the other gangsters that were staring in shock,

"A deal is a deal, now the get the heck outta here before I get angrier." She said as her powers shook a light post near them.

"W-wait! We were told to give you this message if we saw you again," one of them said stuttering,

"'Pandora is watching' some guy came by our hide out last night and told us to tell you that. That's all we know, I swear!" With that they grabbed their boss and quickly ran away.

'Pandora? Why does…that sound so familiar?' it made her head hurt to think about, so she dropped it for now deciding to work on the scene here and now. She turned toward where Jack, Yusei, and Crow were standing with the teal haired twins and the red head girl.

Raven bowed letting her hair hide her face, "I'm sorry, it's my fault they came here. I put you in terrible danger with my rash actions." Her heart fell as her words were met with silence. Standing straight again she put her duel disk back on her runner and deck back into the pouch on her leg.

"I-I think I'm just gonna go then…" a voice stopped her just as she was about to turn and leave,

"That was so _cool_!" and there was Nao running toward her, Raven panicked as she heard a strange metallic squeaking sound.

The light post she had shifted earlier began to fall and Nao was right under it!

* * *

_**Well there we have it. Like I said, I wasn't sure how to approach the dueling thing so I tried to make it as simple as possible. Please R&R and tell me what you think, any helpful hints or commentary is welcome! Till next time! **_


	4. New Friends

_**First off: I would like to thank Johanna Ershova, FiringShootingStar, and the two guests who reviewed my story! I really really appreciate you doing that. :) Secondly: To the guest who reviewed about her deck; the deck she uses is actually one i created who's base is actually a Red Eyes deck so as the story progresses I will be sure to add more of that aspect into it. Now, enough of my rambling! On with the story. **_

_**Disclaimer: I really only own my OC's and the plot. :) **_

* * *

Crow stared at the sight before him; one second Nao was running toward them when a light post came down on top of him, then the next his signer mark was burning and the Crimson Dragon appeared before them, knocking away the light post from coming down on top of Raven, who was now covering the boy with her body.

Just as the dragon appeared it disappeared with a roar leaving the air still, Crow was the first to snap out of his awe when he saw her body hit the ground in a heap. He ran over there and carefully turned her over,

"Raven, are you ok?"

Her eyes fluttered open and she groaned,

"Ouch…that really hurt." Clutching at her head as she said this she attempted to sit up; Crow barely caught her as she almost hit the ground again. She gasped,

"Is Nao okay?" He smiled and nodded,

"I'm fine thanks to you big sis! You saved me!" the boy said hugging her leg, 'Did he just call her…' he thought as her eyes widened.

Yusei walked up at this moment, "Come on, we can discuss this inside. Before a car comes." Crow nodded and helped Raven stand,

"Sorry, it seems I used more energy then I intended." She smiled, but it was strained and even Crow could see how exhausted she was. But he was glad the Crimson Dragon had shown up when he did; otherwise both of them would have been pancakes.

* * *

Raven felt, for lack of a better word, like _crap._ She had never used so much of her power in succession before, her body felt like it was filled with lead and her head felt like it was full of banging drums, but she could deal with that because not only was Nao safe he also called her 'big sis'. It made her want to cry thinking someone had called her that. But she knew crying would only make her head hurt worse.

Raven was so lost in thought that she yelped when her body came into contact with the couch as Crow set her down. He must have thought he hurt her as he immediately began a string of apologies; she grabbed his hand surprised by how cold it was and told him she was merely surprised and not injured.

His face turned a dark shade of red as he nodded his head, "Crow! Are you taking advantage of my big sis while she is like this? How un-cool!" Nao said coming between their joined hands, Raven felt a blush and hid her hand.

Crow stuck his tongue out and said something about getting something to help her as he walked away his face redder than a tomato.

"Don't worry big sis! I will protect you!" Nao said a big smile on his face; she smiled back and rubbed his head.

"What are you _doing_ here, Nao?" The boy shrugged looking bashful, his light green eyes avoiding her own as a blush appeared on his cheeks.

"W-Well, I wanted to come duel you...but when I showed up you were already doing that and I just got so distracted. Sorry if I got in the way..." he trailed off still avoiding her eyes. Raven smiled and pulled him into a hug,

"No, Its my fault that happened. But i'm glad you came, I missed you too." the boy crossed his arms, attempting to look cool, but she right through him.

The red haired and teal haired girl came up then, sitting next to her on the couch.

"Are you ok? Does anything hurt?" said the teal haired girl; Raven's heart sped up being so close to them. She knew it was dumb to be so scared, but she couldn't help it.

She hid the fear in her eyes with her hair and shook her head, mumbling about her head hurting. The maroon haired women nodded and dug through her bag next to her, Raven's heart continued to thud in her chest as she did this.

"Aha! Here, this should help." She said softly holding out a half eaten candy bar, Raven just stared at it not sure how it would help in anyway. The red haired girl smiled,

"You get headaches after you use your power a lot right?" she nodded, not sure how she knew that.

"That used to happen to me all the time; I found the best way to help that is to eat some sugar. It helps your body replenish the energy it just used, and it's a tasty treat." She finished with a smile.

Raven nodded her head and took the candy bar in her shaky hand, blushing as she thanked the red headed girl. As she listened to the others speaking about various subjects she nibbled on the chocolate, surprised to find her heart at peace and not working over time in fear. It was a strange feeling.

"Aw sweet! Candy! Let me have some!" she heard someone say behind her, as her hand was suddenly lifted from her mouth looking up she watched as Crow took her hand and took a bite out of the chocolate. She blushed as she felt her fingers graze his cheek and the thought of his hand wrapped securely around her wrist made her stomach jump in a very pleasant but strange way.

"C-Crow…how embarrassing…" the little teal haired girl said as she looked away blushing. Raven giggled thinking about how similar their reactions were, suddenly the teal haired boy appeared in front of her;

"You're duel was so awesome! You're a dragon user right? I haven't seen one for a while, do you wanna duel sometime? That would be so _awesome!"_

Raven's head spun with all the questions, she could barely keep up. But it made her happy to know that something so looked down upon where she came from was something to be praised here.

"Leo! Don't be rude; can't you see your not helping her? Gosh." The teal haired girl sighed.

"Sorry about that, my brother gets really excited about dueling. My name is Luna by the way." She said smiling; Raven nodded and introduced herself in return.

"Raven? That's such a weird name-ugh!"

Raven squeaked as Leo suddenly hit the ground a lump forming on his head, Jack stood over him an annoyed look on his face.

"That's enough commentary from you. Now _you_," he pointed at Raven who squeaked again, "Explain what the duce happened out there!"

Her heart pounded again as everyone looked from Jack to her,

"Jack come on, you're scaring her more." The red headed girl next to her said,

"Akiza she just put everyone in great danger by messing with those guys, not to mention herself! I think we at least deserve to know what the duce she is playing at."

Raven's eyes widened, she hadn't noticed it before but Jack really seemed to care about the people around him. He gave off an air of superiority but he was actually really concerned about her, she smiled as she realized this. Sure she was still a little scared of him, but not as much.

She looked him straight in the eyes as he stared down at her, his gloved arms crossed over his white suit. If it were any other time she would have wondered what his fascination with white was but now was not the time for idle thoughts like that,

"Jack is right, you at least deserve to know why you got involved in that."

~0~0~0~

After explaining what happened with the gangsters the previous night they all looked at her as if she had just grown a third arm, then Leo jumped up again,

"Whoa! You're so cool! I saw that a building had come down sometime last night but I had no idea someone _brought _it down!"

Raven smiled again as Luna sighed and sent another apologetic look.

"Well that certainly makes sense, I'm impressed you managed to fend off all of those thugs on your own." Yusei said thoughtfully as he leaned against a nearby wall.

Jack on the other hand walked around her to where Crow was leaning against the couch, his arm resting on her shoulder. Jack picked him up by his collar,

"So this is your fault I see! You better have apologized properly, for all the trouble you put her through. She's got the bruises to prove that!"

"Of course I did ya jerk! Now put me down so I can clock you properly!" he said struggling out of his grasp and tackling Jack to the ground where they proceeded to wrestle back and forth. Raven watched in horror as they did this.

"Umm…Shouldn't we at least stop them?" she asked stuttering,

"No way, they go at it at least once a day." Leo said leaning against the arm of the chair, this confused her. 'So they show that they care for one another through fighting?' she thought and after deciding this she turned back to the one named, Akiza.

"So umm…Ms. Akiza?" she said sheepishly, her amber colored eyes looked at her before giggling.

"Please just Akiza, miss makes me sound old." She nodded quickly before trying again.

"A-alright, Akiza you see, I'm not from here. And Crow mentioned that you were a…now what did he call it...a _psychic duelist_? And because of my abilities that I should speak with you."

Akiza looked at her for a second before smiling, "Sure! Whatever you want to know, just ask."

Raven nodded, "W-what is a psychic duelist exactly?"

"Well it's basically a person like you and me, who can bring their duel monsters to life or cause actual damage in a duel. My powers aren't as strong as they used to be but I still have to be really careful when I'm dueling someone. "She said with another smile.

"So _I _am considered a 'psychic duelist', because I can do this?" as she said this she concentrated on Jack and Crow behind her, lifting them carefully in the air.

"What the duce? Put me down this instant! A king should not be treated in such a manner!" Jack yelled as he floated about two feet off the ground.

"Well your highness, if you hadn't jumped me she wouldn't of had to do this. Now look what's happened? You're so damn selfish." Crow replied crossing his arms as he floated aimlessly.

Akiza looked from Raven to them and smiled, laughing at their predicament. "Yes! Just like that you are a psychic duelist!" she grabbed Raven's hand and smiled more.

"It's nice to meet another psychic, Luna is one also." Raven looked at the teal haired girl who was blushing and looking away. "Y-yeah…I can see duel spirits." She said smiling.

Raven had no idea what those were but she was happy to be in the loop now,

"Enough with the happy! Put me the duce down!" Jack said with a very soul look on his face.

"Oh! Sorry I completely forgot!" she used her pointer fingers and motioned downwards, as she did this they both landed gently on the ground. Crow stood for a second before falling back onto his behind.

Raven gasped and ran over to him, "oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" He rubbed his back and smiled at her,"Yep! Just got a little woozy for a second."

She breathed a sigh of relief and sat on her knees next to him, her eyes widened a second later as her vision got fuzzy for a second.

"Whoa! Are _you_ ok?" Crow asked concerned,

"What the duce did you do to her now?" Jack asked concerned, she looked up at him and smiled.

"I-I'm fine really."

Jack scoffed, "Then why is your nose bleeding?" Raven wiped her thumb across her nose, just as Jack had said there was blood smeared across her hand.

"Oh no!" she cried and placed her hands over her face blushing furiously.

"See, this is your fault! Get the girl a tissue you useless dolt!" Jack yelled crossing his arms again, Raven thought it weird to have him fend for her sake suddenly but who was she to complain?

Before Crow could move however Yusei appeared a box of tissues in his hand, "T-thank you. This is so embarrassing!" she said as she reached for one and quickly wiped up the mess.

Yusei smiled, "Its ok, I used to get them all the time during the summer when I was younger. I even remember when Jack got one, he came crying to Martha thinking he was dying!" he laughed.

"Oh! I remember that! He said, "I cannot die yet! I haven't become a great duelist, heal me!" he mimicked in a high pitched voice. Jack who was at the sink turned and blushed,

"I did _not_ sound like that! I was calm and refined about it!" he walked toward her as he said this and leaned down.

"Now hold still." He said taking her chin and pulling it up, Jack gently slid the wet cloth across her face. Raven was scared at first but the look in his deep purple eyes calmed her for some reason, when he finished he placed the cloth in her hands and got up again looking embarrassed.

Leo and Nao came up on both sides laughing, "It's like she's your sister or something Jack!",

"I've never seen him treat anyone like he did with you big sis!" Nao said staring with a confused expression at the blondes back, Raven smiled,

"Thank you Jack. Sorry about that and...I forgive you." She wasn't mad about the almost attacking her thing. But she realized that he was intentionally being nice because _he _felt bad about it.

A little while later Akiza stood up and stretched,

"Alright kids, lets get you home. It's getting late and it looks like it's gonna rain." She said looking outside; Raven hadn't noticed until now how much time had passed and how the sky had darkened to an almost black state.

A low rumble shook the windows a second later, showing proof of her statement.

"I'll go with you." Yusei said grabbing an umbrella from under the stairs,

"Raven, it was very nice to meet you. Make sure you don't use your powers for a while, it's probably putting a lot of strain on your body." Akiza said before joining Yusei by the door.

"I hope you feel better Raven! See ya!" Luna said,

"You better duel me next time!" Leo said resulting in a whack from his sister.

"Idiot." Raven smiled and looked at Nao,

"You should go too, Martha will be worried. Especially since knowing you, you didn't tell her you were coming here. Am I right?" He blushed and twiddled his thumbs clearly caught,

"F-fine! You better come to play with me soon then!" he said giving her a quick hug before running out the door with the rest of them. Raven smiled, 'he's so cute!'

"You must have made quite the impression on him Raven." Crow said standing up, he reached down and pulled her up. She blushed and stood up from her place on the couch, Jack scoffed by the stairs. "Crow, make me something to eat! I'm starving."

Crow glared at him, "What do I look like your wife?" Jack scoffed again,

"Please, and have my hands touch uncooked food? A king does not cook!" he said as he walked up the stairs, "Call me when it's ready then."

Now with just the two of them again, Crow sighed as a rumbling sound was heard both inside and outside. Raven blushed and covered her stomach, now that she thought about it she hadn't really eaten all day.

"Umm…if you don't mind, I could stay a bit longer and cook something. As an apology for all the trouble I put you all through today." She couldn't look at him as she said this,

"Sure! None of us are very good cooks. So if you'd like to take a stab at it I'm sure Jack and Yusei would appreciate it."

Raven smiled as rain began to pour outside, hitting the windows like nails.

"Geeze that was quick! I hope the others made it back ok." Crow said walking over and closing the Garage door so no water could get in.

She meanwhile walked over to the little kitchen and looked through what they had, it wasn't much but she could use some of what they had to fix a proper meal. She took off her gloves and rolled up the sleeves of her jacket as she quickly began.

* * *

Crow was making some slight adjustments to the Blackbird when Yusei came running in through the door, completely drenched.

"Dude, what happened to the umbrella you had?" Yusei just shrugged,

"I gave it to Akiza, since she lives farther." Everyone could tell Yusei and Akiza had a thing for each other, everyone that is, except each other. They were both just so weird and awkward when it came to things like that, that Crow guessed it made sense considering their backgrounds.

Still, Even Jack had the sense to get with Carly while the getting was good! But it wasn't in his nature to butt into others personal business without a good reason.

Yusei shook some water out of his hair, his normally crab-like spikes drooping slightly, he sniffed the air.

"Wow that smells great. Who's cooking?" Crow grinned, "Why the ever so lovely Raven of course!" He was more referring to the fact that he didn't have to cook for once, but he still blushed slightly at his own words.

"Hmm, that's nice of her. Do you think she'd mind staying here for the night? Visibility is pretty bad out there, and I was _walking_." Crow nodded his head,

"I will ask her, she can just crash in my room. By the way, where's Bruno? I haven't seen him for a while."

"He called earlier and said it was gonna take another day for him to finish that job I asked him to do. I asked if he wanted to me come help but he said he could handle it, so he should be back by the morning." Yusei said taking off his jacket and wringing it out.

Crow saw Raven come around from the kitchen wearing his yellow apron, "Alright Crow it's ready! And-oh! W-Welcome back Yusei." She said blushing; she then noticed Yusei's condition and gasped.

"Oh my gosh! You must be freezing!" she said before grabbing a towel that was handing on the railing and draping it over Yusei's head rubbing it gently around his hair, Crow couldn't help but laugh at this scene.

It was like she was playing pseudo mommy!

Crow laughed at his own thoughts as images of her dressed as Martha came to mind, the only difference being that Martha would probably scold Yusei for being out in the rain not dry him off.

As he wiped tears from his eyes he looked over and saw them both looking at him with expressions saying, "Has he gone insane?", Crow smiled and brought his hands up in defense. Raven rolled her eyes and looked back at Yusei, who smiled down at her and placed his hands over her own.

"I've got it from here. Thank you though, I appreciate it." Raven quickly removed her hands and turned away from him to hide her blush, Crow still saw it though,

"I…umm made dinner. So if you wanna get changed and get some you're more than welcome." Her stuttering made Crow think of how every adorable she looked, especially in that apron.

He blushed as rather unprofessional thoughts came to mind involving her and that apron. But quickly returned to earth as she ran over to the stairs, saying something about Jack, Crow stared as he saw the flash of a smile before she disappeared onto the next floor.

"She seems happy. I hope she isn't scared of us anymore." Yusei commented, Crow nodded it did seem that she was getting used to them. Which was good in his opinion, her life had been pretty crappy and he wanted her to be around the people that always made him feel happy and safe.

'Even Jack seems to be treating her differently.' He thought as he put his tools away and went to wash up.

* * *

_**Well there's another chapter down! I hope you enjoyed this one, not much action but I decided to show a bit more of Raven's character. Please Read and Review! And feel free to PM me if you have any questions or comments you would like addressed! I'm happy to reply to each an every one of them. **_

_**Till next time! :)**_


	5. Sleepover

_**Yay! Got another chapter done! As usual I would like to thank all the lovely people who favorited this story and FiringShootingStar, cownoodle, katara4494 for all of your lovely reviews! They really make me feel like i'm doing a good job on this story! ^/^ Well enough with the rambling! **_

**_Disclaimer: Mine: Plot and OC's Not Mine: Everything else. _**

* * *

Raven ran up the stairs so fast she realized she didn't even know which room was his, 'though looking around, I'm guessing it's the one with the door closed.' She thought as she walked up to it, just as she was about to knock on the door she stopped mid way as she heard Jack's voice on the other side.

"I still think you're being absurd, you should go to the hospital where they can treat you properly." Silence, followed by;

"Yes, yes…alright. Well then just try to get some rest tonight and I will come visit you tomorrow. Good night love." More silence.

Raven felt bad for eavesdropping and promised to apologize when she got the chance, she quickly knocked on the door and stepped back a little so as not to come face to lower abdomen with the blonde haired man. Curse her shortness!

Jack opened the door a second later and looked down, 'man he's scary!' she thought as he looked at her with an annoyed expression.

"Yes? What is it? Spit it out!"

"Oh! Umm…D-Dinner is ready. If you would like to join us…" she squeaked as he walked past her,

"It's about time! You shouldn't leave a king to starve!" Raven giggled and curtsied

"Allow me to apologize to my king."

Jack turned back and smirked, "You're quite lucky I am a gracious king so I will forgive your tardiness and blame it all on Crow!" the after mentioned red head yelled up the stairs the next second, Raven giggled some more.

Yusei walked past her then,

"I'm gonna get changed you guys start without me." She nodded and walked down the stairs after the blonde and into the kitchen where she filled some bowls full of food, that Crow had pulled out for her.

~0~0~0~

Little tears formed in Crow's eyes as he looked at what she had made a simple dish; beef and garlic rice,

"Wow Raven! This looks great!" She blushed and quietly thanked him as she handed him his bowl, followed next by Jack and not long after Yusei.

They sat at the small dinning table in an alcove under the stairs; it had a large window next to it so they could see the storm outside. Not that there was much to see, as the sun set all the light seemed to have left the world except for little flashes when lightning would crash,

"Would you like anything to drink?" she said as she filled a small bowl for herself. Yusei walked past her,

"Don't worry about it. We can take care of that part, just go take a seat." She nodded and quietly took a seat in beside Crow looking out the window.

Not long after, their food was devoured and groans of pleasure rang out as the food settled.

"Oh my god Raven! That was delicious! Where did you learn to cook like that?" Crow asked patting his fully belly, she smiled sadly.

"In Alturas it's the women's job to cook, clean, and take care of the family. Cooking just seems to come naturally to me though." Crow looked down, Yusei and Jack looked confused. Raven just laughed,

"That place is pretty far behind in the times, trust me. I'm really happy I left."

They all nodded,

"So how are you adjusting to living here?" Yusei asked, Raven smiled again,

"Not well at first; I went to the store to get stuff for my cooler, so I asked the salesman what I should get and he filled up 3 baskets worth of stuff! So now I basically have enough food to feed an army," they laughed at this,

"But I'm slowly getting used to everything here, it's the people here that I have a hard time with."

Crow nodded understanding; the other two just looked confused.

"Were the people really that different there?" Yusei said putting his head on his knuckles; Raven wasn't sure what to say about that without revealing too much. So far Crow was the only one who knew the whole story about why she left.

"Well…people here are certainly…kinder then in Alturas." She smiled trying to keep the conversation light,"like I said people there aren't very kind to anyone who acts differently then them. It certainly wasn't easy growing up there but I managed, and left the second I got a chance."

She swirled the water in her cup,

"I guess if you think about it, lots of people have or had it a lot harder than I did. So in retrospect I guess my life was pretty ok." This wasn't a lie; she had always told herself that. She figured that if she thought of her life as not as bad as it actually was she wouldn't end up hating all the people that made her suffer so much.

"That's really noble of you, but a bunch of bull if you ask me!" Jack said with his arms crossed.

"Jack!" Crow yelled attempting to stop him, "You're just diluting yourself into believing your life wasn't as bad as it actually was, don't turn from your reality just because you believe its no worse than someone's else suffering."

Crow jumped up from the table shaking with anger, Raven just stared wide eyed unable to come up with a single thing to say back.

"Jack, you don't know what you're talking about! Shut up before I come over there and clobber you!" Crow said angrily, which caused Jack to stand up slamming his hands on the table.

"Any time any where half pint!"

Meanwhile Raven just kind of sat there amongst the chaos, a feeling rising inside her. She wasn't sure what it was, until a sound came out of her mouth. Suddenly she couldn't stop the sound, she tried to cover her mouth but more kept coming.

The three boys just stared at her like she had gone insane; after all she was sitting there laughing like a maniac.

When she was finally able to breath again she sighed and took in the shocked and confused looks of the people around her.

"I'm sorry, but what Jack said is exactly what my dad used to say to me when I was younger. The only exception is that he would knock me on the head first then he'd say, 'That's for being dumb enough to hide it from me'" She laughed some more at this but stopped after a moment.

Next thing she knew there was a sharp pain on her head,

"Ouch! Why did you do that?" she looked up and Jack held his fist up in the air,

"that's for being dumb enough to hide it from me!" Raven smiled; the biggest truest smile she had given in a long time.

~0~0~0~

Not long after that, when all the dishes had been done and Jack and Crow had once again gone at each others throats before the blonde retired to his bed for the night, Yusei had begun typing away at the computer on the desk and seemed in another universe. Raven stood by her runner tying back her hair with a ribbon she carried around for the drive back. It was still pouring cats and dogs but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle, 'the storms back in Alturas are ten times worse.' She thought as she finished and flipped her hood over her head.

Crow walked around the corner from the kitchen,

"Where do you think you're going?" he said playfully, though she still felt a chill run down her spine,

"Umm…home? To sleep?" she said confused. Lightning crashed lighting up the streets outside, Crow shook his head and scratched his neck nervously,

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask you this. But would you mind crashing here for the night? The storm is pretty bad out there." He blushed as he said this.

She blushed in return and quickly shook her head, "I-I really shouldn't, I've imposed enough as it is. Besides, a storm like this is nothing compared to what we used to get in Alturas."

"Eh?! But its pitch black out there! Not even an experienced rider like us could ride through that."

Raven laughed, "I'm not afraid of the dark Crow, besides I've got the lightning lighting the way." She picked up her helmet as she said this, slipping it on her head and pushing her runner toward the garage door.

Crow's eyes widened and he ran toward her stopping at the ramp,

"Don't go! Please don't go out there." He pleaded, Raven stared at him. Or more like the look in his eyes, the look that said he was worried, and scared. The same look her parents would give her after she came home from a particularly bad beating.

Sighing she backed up her runner and slipped off her helmet, "Alright, if you're that concerned I will stay." He sighed in relief and nodded,

"Thank you. Let me get you something to sleep in." he said as he quickly ran up the stairs.

She smiled, and went to sit on the couch. 'They're all so nice! It's a little hard to get used too, but I'm glad Jack isn't so scary to me anymore.' She rubbed her head in remembrance of earlier. 'Yusei is really nice too," She stared at the boys back as she thought this, 'he doesn't talk much but I can see in his eyes how much he cares about everyone, Akiza and the twins seem really nice too! Gosh, I've met so many nice people since coming here, and all of this would never have happened if I hadn't met Crow.'

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of Crow, seeing him smiling in the sunlight as the kids played around him. 'He looked so beautiful then…' she blushed and shook her head, but her heart kept beating fast in her chest she placed her hand over her chest, 'What is this feeling? I don't understand…'

Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound her name being called shook her, she turned,

"Raven, come up here." Crow said from the top, he was smiling and it made her heart beat faster again.

"R-right, coming."

Quickly walking up the stairs she met the red head at the top, he handed her a stack of neatly folded clothes, she must have made a strange face because he laughed and said,

"Don't worry! Those are clean, but they might be a little big on you. We don't have anything much smaller than what I wear. I hope you don't mind…" he said trailing off and scratching his neck again.

She shook her head blushing,

"N-No, I don't mind at all…thank you for going to so much trouble for me…" she bowed a little, which made his face go red.

"T-The bathroom is over there!" he said as he pointed to a door at the far left of the hallway, "You can change in there. I'm gonna crash on the couch since Bruno won't be back tonight, so you can take my room. It's the last door at the end." She nodded and walked past him and through the door.

She made sure to lock it before leaning against it and sighing, she squeezed the clothes he had given her against her chest. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute and she didn't even know why. 'I do know who though.' She thought, 'But it's not a bad feeling I guess…I mean it's nice.' She blushed and shook her head.

Moving the clothes from her hands to the sink she quickly stripped out of her clothes and into what he had given her. The light yellow t-shirt hung off her and the blue sweats she had to tie multiple times just to make sure they stayed firmly on her hips.

All and all she was quite comfy in them, 'Maybe I can get some at the place they call 'the mall.'" She thought happily as she exited the room and into the door across the way, she wasn't paying attention so when she saw what she did she stopped dead her face instantly lighting up a bright shade of red.

Crow stood in front of a small dresser in nothing but a pair of sweats like hers, his back was turned toward her as he reached up to take off his headband and placed it on the dresser. With his gloves off Raven noticed a strange red mark on his arm, it looked like the tail of something…

"Oh! Raven, you scared me." Crow said turning around the same light yellow shirt she wore in his hand. Raven's face turned completely red and she had to turn to keep from fainting completely. 'If I thought his face was beautiful, his body is equally as beautiful!' she thought as visions of his well toned abs consumed her thoughts.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look." She said shaking from how hard her heart was beating, Crow laughed.

"It's no biggie, I'm done anyway. You can go ahead and get in the bed, I'm gonna get some extra blankets. It's supposed to get cold tonight." Crow walked past her, she quickly placed her clothes on the floor and sat on the bed.

Hearing him walk back in with a pile of blankets he smiled, "These should keep you warm." He said spreading them on the bed, when he turned to walk out Raven did something neither of them was expecting.

"You should sleep in here!" it blurted out so quickly she blushed again; Crow just stared at her with a shocked expression.

"I-I mean I don't want you freeze and your bed is big enough for both of us to sleep. I-If you don't mind…." She suddenly found her hands extremely fascinating as she waited for him to reply.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to be uncomfortable." She nodded still unable to look at his face.

"Well alright then...if you're sure." He walked toward her and she could tell he was scratching the back of his neck again.

"I can take the wall okay?" he said in the gentlest tone she'd heard from him, it made her heart beat increase more. Nodding she stood up so that he could climb in, once he was comfortable she climbed in after him lying on her back and pulling the blankets up to her chin.

She felt him shift slightly up onto his knees, "I'm gonna turn off the lights now." She nodded and the room was filled with pitch darkness. More shuffling next to her then finally a sigh, she felt the warm breath on her shoulder.

She could feel his steel colored eyes on her even through the darkness; it made her heart pound even harder. He must have heard her take a shaky breath, "Are you sure you're alright? I could always jump on the couch."

"Mhm, I'm sure. It makes more s-sense to do it this way. I would feel worse if I not only kicked you out of your bed but you got sick as well." She whispered back,

"alright." He replied, she could feel the concern in his voice. 'Come on Raven! Get it together! Relax! Just think about sleeping!' she coached herself.

"Crow?" she whispered, he hummed in response, "Can we be friends?" she heard him chuckle, 'Oh my gosh, I was supposed to be thinking about sleeping and that's what comes out of my mouth? Great job Raven…' she hid her face under the covers as he continued to laugh.

"Weirdo, we already are! I don't let just anyone meet my family ya know." She peeked out, even though she could only see his outline she could tell he was smiling.

"Really?" she asked tentatively,

"Of course! And the kids seem to love you too so they're your friends too, even Jack has taken a liking to you. So you have lots of friends now." Raven smiled and blinked back tears.

"But you're special…because, you're the first person I've asked on my own. Is that ok? If you're my special first friend?" He gently placed his hand on top of hers,

"Sure! And you can be the first girl I've ever had sleep in my bed." He said playfully.

She giggled before letting out a rather large yawn as the days events took their toll on her, Crow chuckled again, "its bed time for Ms. Sleepy-head." As he went to move his hand away she quickly grabbed it again.

Too tired to blush she asked, "Do you mind…if we just stay like this for a while?" he gripped her hand back in response. Turning towards him she felt her eyes slowly slide closed, muttering a quiet thank you before slipping into the darkness.

~0~0~0~

'Where am I?' Raven thinks as she wanders blindly through the blackness around her,

_"Where __**are **__you?" _ She stands stock still as she listens for the voice again,

"Who's there? What's going on?" but no reply comes.

Instead a new sound erupts from the silence, a scream; one of the high pitched bloody-murder type. She covers her ears it's so loud, suddenly the blackness around her is replaced by a blinding light and the blue eyed girl is standing above a child.

Her dark black hair spread out around and her filled with knots, her breathing his labored as she lies shackled on a metal table wearing only a raggedy white dress with blood and dirt stains over it.

_"Someone…help me…" _she begs quietly, but no savior comes. No knight on a white horse, no hero in a cape. The tired little girl cries in resignation to her fate.

Another more powerful voice echoes around her, the sound so strong it makes Raven cover her ears but still she cannot look away. The child seems to have heard the voice as well as she looks up, her dull empty eyes open a crack.

_"What do you seek child?" _The girl seems to think about it for a second,

_"I want…happiness."_ The air around the child seems to heat up, turning a bright crimson color.

"_For the child who was born without love, I ask that you will be my portal for my Singers. Do this and I shall guide you to the people who will grant your wish. Do you accept?"_ Raven can feel her heart beat speed up, 'Why does this all seem like something I've seen before?'

The child nods her head,

_"I accept, I will help you." _Suddenly a crimson aura appears around her and seems to take shape, gliding and winding in a snake like motion. 'I don't want to see this...' Raven thinks as she closes her eyes, but to her horror the vision continues behind her lids.

The serpentine creature shone a bright crimson color; its scales seemed to move like fire about its body. Its wings flared up behind it, but what scared her most was the face of this beast, the eyes shone a blinding yellow light. Like that of looking into the sun, she whimpered as the dragon curled up and sprang towards the small child.

The girl screamed as the beast made contact with her body, forcing its way into her chest. Burning her from the inside out, her blood seemed to boil as she writhed under the snake's force. When finally the last of it had disappeared within the girl she crashed onto the table unconscious.

_"Do not forget what I have said; find those who will grant your wish. Then you shall grant mine." _

Suddenly a door opened behind the unconscious girl, and in stepped a man with long blonde hair tied back and dark almost black eyes. Raven's breath hitched, she didn't know who this man was but just seeing struck fear deep in her heart.

The man wore a long white lab coat over a blue button up shirt and black slacks, his hands were folded neatly behind his back. The part that had Raven's heart and breathing labored was his smile, it was a smile of true madness. And it froze her to the core.

"N-No! I don't want to be here anymore! Make it stop!" she buried her hands in her hair and shook her head, tears forming and falling within seconds. A new sound however caught her attention, this one more calming, it froze the world around her.

A soft pressure around her and more specifically on her hand, combined with the sound of humming melted the scene around her. She breathed slowly as it faded into darkness once again, the last thing she heard before fading with it was, "Shhh…its ok Raven, its ok."

* * *

_**And there we have it, a little more about Raven here and hopefully everyone remained at least a bit IC. Anywhu...please Read and Review! Helpful comments are always welcome as well! **_

_**Till next time! :3**_


	6. New Information and Satellite Flu?

_**Ahhh sorry for the late update, I've been sick for the past few days (still am technically) but i managed to get this chapter out! Yay me! I would also like to thank FiringShootingStar for their wonderful and helpful advice as usual! I am definetly trying to improve! **_

_**Disclaimer: You all know this bit, OC = mine all of Yugioh 5Ds = Not mine.**_

* * *

Raven jumped back into consciousness at the sound of a loud banging, but she was incredibly warm. Like there was a personal heater right next to her, and the chill around her really made her not want to open her eyes. She nuzzled closer to the warmth as the banging continued.

"Crow damn you! Wake up!" a voice yelled, she frowned, 'Crow? Why would someone be calling his name at my apartment?' realization came too late, as there was a slamming sound and Jack's voice filled the room.

"Hey! I thought I told you-"he was cut off by the sight in front of him, Crow was snoring softly on his back a trail of drool going down his cheek. However this wasn't the thing that stopped him, Raven had her head against his chest one hand entangled with Crow's off to the side while Crows other arm rested around her waist.

Raven screamed as her warm thing was taken out from under her, sending her rolling off the bed and onto the hard ground.

"Ow, ow…what was _that_ for?" she wondered as her pale blue eyes traveled upwards to see none other than Jack Atlas standing above her holding a very pissed off Crow by his collar.

"What the duce is going on? I let her stay because she would be safe and I find you've already taken advantage of her!" The blonde yelled, "What the hell man! I didn't do anything!" Raven's mind was still in a sleepy fog so she wasn't too sure what was going on.

But all this bickering this early was making her head hurt, which did not make her a happy camper. She blew out a frustrated breath, they were yelling so loud she didn't even think she could get through to either of them. Instead she tried a more direct approach; pointing both her pointer fingers at each of them and crossing them upwards.

Just like the previous time they both yelled as they were lifted into the air.

"Raven! What the hell?!" Crow said waving his arms in a crazy manner to keep from hitting the ceiling, Jack just floated with his arms crossed and a very sour look on his face. She gave them both a very annoyed look, and put up two fingers.

"There are two primary choices in life: accept conditions as they exist or accept the responsibility for changing them. And I'm changing them if you don't mind, so until you both can play nicely you're gonna hang out up there and learn how." With that she grabbed her clothes and walked out of the room, intent on at least showering off this foul mood.

Yusei stood by the door with a tall blue haired man in a white and yellow jacket, "Are they going to stay up there all day, because Crow has work in about an hour, and Jack is supposed to go pretend to find a job." The dark haired man commented, "Is that even safe?" the blue haired man said looking at them in awe.

She stared sleepily at them and mummbled, "I will let them down before I leave. May I use the shower?" they both nodded and she continued on her way.

* * *

Ten or so minutes later Crow heard the water shut off from the corner of his bedroom ceiling, Jack leaned against a wall not far away from him.

"Hey! Jack." The red head said,

"What is it?" the blonde replied.

"What's up with you? You've been acting weird around Raven since yesterday." He was kind of curious as to what was up with the usually extremely conceded man to act so protecting of someone.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Crow sighed, deciding it was best to let it drop for now. He looked to the doorway as the bathroom door opened and out walked a refreshed and happy Raven. She walked carefully into the room and after fixing the bed that had been messed up earlier and placing the clothes she had been previously wearing on top she looked around for something.

'What's up with her? Is she ignoring us?' he thought as she looked to be thinking about something, that's when he eyes locked onto Jack's boots,

"Well?! We're friends again! Now will you let me the duce down?" Jack demanded, his patience seeming to run out.

Raven stared at him for a minute before looking around and seeing Crow she gasped, "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I forgot you guys were still up there, oh dear…" she looked at her shoes as she pointed at them again and Crow felt his body slowly regain it's previous gravity and he landed safely onto the ground by the dresser.

Jack landed a few feet away from her; she was blushing a dark shade of red.

"I-I'm so sorry! I'm really not a morning person!" she bowed. Crow couldn't help but think how cute she looked right now, 'she actually looks cute all the time.' He corrected himself.

"It's no biggie really! It's all Jacks fault for waking us up that way." Crow knew he had a point, but Raven still looked really unhappy. And Jack just stood there with his arms folded over his chest,

"Come on Jack, you know I'm right. Just apologize to the girl before she starts crying!" he said. Crow wasn't really sure what he was gonna do if she started crying though.

'Actually I could just hum to her again, it seemed to work last night.' Think about that he remembered how terrified she had sounded, she was whispering but Crow knew begging when he heard it. And whatever she was seeing was terrifying enough to make her beg for its end. It was heart breaking to see, and made a strong anger burn inside his chest. It was really too bad the red head didn't know who to hate.

Crow was broken from his thoughts as Raven squeaked, Jack put his hand on her head. He didn't say anything, but Crow had known Jack long enough to see that he was trying to apologize, in his own way.

A minute or two later he calmly walked out leaving the blue eyed girl staring after him, Crow smiled as she looked back at him.

"So umm…was that an apology?" he nodded and dug some clothes out of his dresser for work.

"C-Crow?" she stuttered, he turned seeing her holding out a piece of paper. "If you want to hang out again, or just talk this is my 'cell phone number', I believe that's what it's called. Apparently you can talk to another person with it when they are far away. B-but anyway, please feel free to use it if you want." The red haired man took the piece of paper smiling again.

'Even her lack of technology knowledge is cute…' he thought but shook his head and said instead,

"Sure! Do you wanna get lunch later? I get off around 3." Crow wasn't sure how it happened but for some reason he just couldn't get through a day without spending a majority of it with her. Which was weird, and strange and actually….nice.

He chuckled as she turned another shade of red as she nodded her head,

"Cool, we can just meet back here and go somewhere." Now it was his turn to blush as the timid girl looked right at him and smiled the most beautiful smile he'd seen on her since meeting. It was then that he decided that smile would be the death of him.

* * *

After a short and awkward meeting with the blue haired man, named Bruno, Raven left. Her dream was still bugging her, so she decided to look for information; on the Crimson Dragon, the signers and even that man. 'Why did that all look so familiar? I don't understand any of this.' She thought as she sped down the highway.

She remembered the conversation she had with Bruno before she left;

_The blue haired boy seemed just as awkward around her as she did around him, which made Crow laugh as they seemed to fall into constant bouts of silence. Raven had found that this man knew nothing of his past except for his name and his skills. Raven felt a mix of emotions as she learned this: jealousy and sadness be the prominent ones. _

_As Crow left to check on his runner before leaving for work, Raven took this chance to ask the blue haired man something that she wanted to know. She poked him and pointed to a nearby corner so they could speak without being heard. Not that Yusei would hear them as he was too engrossed in whatever he was doing to his runner. _

_Once they were a good distance away she started; _

_"Umm, I'm not really from around here. But I need to find some information…" Bruno thought for a second, _

_"I'm sure Yusei would be ok with you using the computer." She shook her head, _

_"It's rather personal." _

"_Hmm, you could try the library downtown. They have a lot of books and a pretty good database. If you want I could come with you, and help?" Raven blushed and politely turned down his offer. She got the directions from him and left not long after. _

~0~0~0~

After taking a few wrong turns and awkwardly speaking to the librarian about a library card she was finally let into the many rows upon rows of books. She wasn't really sure where to start looking, so she started the way her parents always would; the computer.

When she clicked the mouse and the search engine appeared, something called 'Google' she typed in the words she was looking for, Crimson Dragon and Signers.

A few seconds later a screen of links appeared, most being from a strangely named site called, 'Wikipedia'. She clicked on the first one which brought up a page she read closely what it said;

"5,000 years ago, an ancient civilization known as the People of the Stars worshiped a mystical light called the 'Dragon Star', which was prayed on by the leader of the People of the Stars, the Star Dragon King, at the top of the Stairway to the Dragon Star. When the star shined, the king knew it would be a message from their god, the Crimson Dragon."

This peaked her interest a bit so she kept reading;

"According to legend, The Crimson Dragon could only be summoned with the help of the Signers, whose individual marks either represented the Heart, Hand, Tail, Wings, Foot and Head of the dragon. Also according to legend there was once a single person with the full mark of the dragon, this person is said to be the portal with which the dragon could enter the world of mankind. Ancient hieroglyphs told researchers that this portal would be necessary when 'the world fell into darkened illness.'"

Raven was surprised, 'So whoever that little girl is, is the portal? And who are the signers now?' The article went on to explain about the Dark Signers and the Nazca Lines, and a thought struck her; Didn't Crow tell her something about the Dark Signers? 'But why would he-'she remembered the mark on his arm the other night, she hadn't seen it very clearly.

She quickly scanned through the document for any pictures of these dragon marks; her heart was pounding in her chest as she clicked on a link to them. As the pictures finally loaded her heart stopped, the one shaped like a tail matched perfectly with the mark on his arm.

She leaned against the back of the chair in shock,

'So…Crow is a Signer?' Now that she thought about it didn't Jack have a red mark on his arm too? And Yusei, he wasn't wearing his jacket while he was working; she was sure she saw a red mark on his arm too.

'Does that mean all of them are Signers?' she was pretty sure that's what it meant, but why that brought fear to her heart she wasn't sure. Questions rang through her head, should she ask them, what would they say, do they know who that little girl from her dream is? She took a shaky breath and closed the page; Raven wasn't sure why but something told her to go to the herbal remedies where she ended up checking out a very large book on them.

Most of it was just review to her, most of the women in Alturas were taught home remedies so that the few doctors actually there could focus on the more serious stuff, doctors like her parents. But she shook the thought from her head and continued to read as she walked out of the building and leaning against her runner.

She wasn't sure how long it was but she was shaken from her readings by a ringing in her bag, digging out the object she found her small purple flip phone was ringing, the screen outside said unknown. She pressed the small button on the side as it automatically flipped open and she pressed it too her ear, thinking it was Crow.

"Hello?" she asked there was a frantic yelling and someone was crying in the background.

"Shhh! I'm calling right now! Don't go crazy Doctor; I'm sure she can help!" Raven blinked,

"Umm…who is this?"

"Raven? Oh thank goodness! I'm so sorry, Crow mentioned he had your phone number. Would you mind coming over for a bit? We have a small problem that we think you could fix." She blinked and frowned at the woman's frantic tone,

"Martha? What kind of problem?"

"Well…here let me put the doctor on." There was a sound as the phone was passed before a man cleared his throat.

"Ms. Raven? This is Dr. Schmidt, I'm afraid many of the children have taken ill. It's an illness we call the 'Satellite flu', and I had heard you were from Alturas, the village of healers is that correct?" she nodded and when she realized he couldn't see her she confirmed his information.

The man let out a giant sigh of relief,

"Then please, could you come and see if there is anything you can do? I've heard your not good around groups so I've already called the boys to help out." She blew out a breath she didn't know she was holding and said she'd be there soon. After which, the line went dead and she stood staring at the screen till it too went black.

She flipped it closed and nodded her head, 'Alright Raven, time be useful! You can do this!' the dark haired girl thought as she stuffed the book and the phone into her bag and hoping onto her runner and speeding off.

Raven sighed as she pulled up to Martha's house and saw Yusei and Crow's runners outside, she quickly walked up to the door and knocked. It opened a second later with a very frazzled Martha on the other side,

"Oh thank goodness! Doctor, Doctor! Raven is here! Please this way."

The look on the usually strong woman's face was a mix of worry and fear; she placed her hand on the woman's shoulder.

"Please take a deep breath, I promise I will help as much as I can. But you can't show the children how frightened you are." Raven gave her a reassuring smile and took a few steadying breaths and the fear was replaced with a strong look of hope in her eyes.

Yusei, Crow and a man with a long face and gray hair parted right down the middle with bangs on each side of his face, though one side was longer than the other. He appeared calm, but the dark haired girl could see that he feared just as much as Martha.

"Raven, this is Dr. Schmidt. He has a practice here and helps people who need medical treatment." Yusei said, the man stuck out his hand.

Raven gripped the strap of her bag tightly; his long white coat was the same as the man from her dream, plus she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with his hand. Sensing her unease he retracted his hand,

"Please this way," he led them down a long hall and into a large room filled with beds, each had a child she saw before in a bed looking ghastly.

Her eye's widened as she took it all in, 'every single one of them?' She looked to Dr. Schmidt, as she walked over to the first bed feeling the child's forehead. The young girl was as hot as a furnace; she glanced at the people standing by the doors.

"Tell me about this, satellite flu."

The doctor cleared his throat again,

"Well it's an illness that's been going around recently, the person is perfectly fine in the morning, but later that day they have an extremely high fever, rapid heart rates, shortness of breath, and vomiting. So far, there have only been a few cases, but this seems immune to the all of the medication that's thrown at it."

Raven nodded and continued to examine the child; her throat, arms, stomach, legs, and feet for anything out of the ordinary. When she was sure it was nothing else she asked something she knew would confirm it.

"Please, tell me exactly when they showed these symptoms."

The doctor and Martha exchanged looks, Martha was the first to answer;

"I suppose it was around 8 this morning.'

"Are you _sure_? That was the exact time?" Raven's question came as more of a demand, but the information was crucial.

The woman nodded,

"Yes, it was right after breakfast. They suddenly started falling to the ground in pain." Yusei placed his hand on her shoulder; she was shaking as she remembered. Crow spoke now,

"Raven, you know what it is don't you?"

She sighed, "Yes. While I was still in Alturas many people journeyed there for an illness just like this." She rubbed the girls head, "We called it the desert flu because of its potency." She smiled now as she faced them,"Luckily, we were able to construct a cure for it in the early stages."

They all stared at her for a moment before Martha barreled towards her throwing her arms around Raven's neck and sobbing.

"Y-You're serious? You can make them all better?" Dr. Schmidt looked like he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

Yusei took the blubbering woman off Raven so she could breathe, and she nodded.

"Yes, luckily we caught it early enough to prevent any spread throughout the body and to others. A few days later and we would have been too late."

Crow had little tears in his eyes and looked like he was about to hug her too, but she put her hands up. "Please, no more hugs! In order for this to work we need to get started right away." They nodded and Raven proceeded to give out jobs.

"Doctor Schmidt and Martha, please stay in here and try to lower their temperature's, and keep them calm if they wake up. Say it's just a cold and they should be back to normal soon." They nodded and set to work, Martha heading off to the kitchen to get ice.

"Yusei and Crow, I'm going to need your help making the medicine." She picked up a pad and some paper on a nearby desk and started writing down ingredients,

"This is a list of things we are going to need, most of it is stuff you find in the kitchen but there is one thing on there that requires us to actually get. Do you know where a medicinal store would be?"

They thought for a second, and Crow snapped his fingers.

"Yeah! There's one on the edge of the city." She nodded and dug the book she got at the library out of her bag and after flipping through the pages found the correct one and handed it to Yusei. "Since this ingredient needs to be added last, just follow these instructions. I hope you're good at cooking." She added with a smile.

Yusei returned her smile and nodded his head, "I will try my best." She turned back to Crow and couldn't help the blush that formed on her cheeks as he looked at her with amazement in his eyes.

"C-Crow…You and me will go get the plant." He nodded and they all went about their jobs.

As Crow and Raven walked outside he grabbed the helmet off her runner and tossed it too her, "It'll be faster to just ride on one." She nodded a little nervous and put on her helmet. Crow wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her onto the Blackbird, before climbing in front of her and starting the engine.

He wrapped her arms around his back, before turning and giving her a smile that always made her heart beat double time.

"Hold on tight, we're gonna go pretty fast!" she nodded taking a deep breath as he pulled out and away from Martha's house, taking turns and dodging people walking at speeds she could only guess at.

She squeaked as they took a sharp turn and tightened her hold on Crow, at this point in time she didn't care that he was a Signer, who the portal was, or that man. She didn't care about all of it, right here and now it was just her and Crow, driving as fast as the wind and it made her heart beat happily.

All too soon however, the ride ended and Crow hoped off, and after helping her they walked into the little store.

~0~0~0~

Crow nearly pushed Raven out of the little store as she held a small white plant that to the red head looked like a flower. But according to her would help, the red haired man wasn't convinced but he trusted Raven and knew if anyone could save his kids, she would. Before they were completely out the door, he was now actually pushing her he was so impatient to get back; Raven stopped and turned to him, a serious look on her face. Pulling out her deck and fanning it out, she picked a card from the middle and placed it on his hand.

"Take this, and relax! You're making me more nervous then usual." She giggled as she said this; Crow looked at the card in his hand.

"Winged Heart?" the card had a picture of a heart with a giant black bird in the background wrapping its wings around it.

"My parents gave that too me, whenever I get scared or unsure I look at it and I always feel better." He smirked and mentally slapped himself.

'Damn it Crow, she's right! You need to calm down and trust her. She can handle this.' Crow thought as he closed his eyes and held the card close to his heart, breathing deeply he could feel himself calming down.

"Everything is going to be fine." Crow nodded and Raven walked out ahead of him.

Crow was still staring at the card as he walked out to join Raven,

"Hey Raven, you know this card is pretty cool. I bet your parents-"he cut himself off at the sound of a yelp; a dark haired tough guy held a struggling Raven up in the air, her wrists firmly grasped in one of his hands, with a knife in the other hand and up to her throat. Crow officially hated this guy right then and there. Standing next to them was a woman in a white lab coat over a short pencil skirt and a button down top tucked into it. Her hair was a bright pink color and tightly tied up into a bun, Crow would have thought she was cute if not for the icy stare her dark eyes were giving him.

"Can I help you both with something?" he asked, though he looked calm his voice said he wasn't playing around.

The woman smiled,

"Why yes, I just wanted to let you know we would be taking back our property now. If you don't mind." She clearly wasn't asking, as she motioned to Raven who freaked out even more as tears formed in her eyes. Crow glared, 'We don't have _time_ for this!'

* * *

_**Yay cliffhangers! Anyway, this next chapter might take some time but I will find a way to push through my sicky-ness! Please R&R! Helpful comments, things you liked, things you didn't. I accept them all! So please let me know!**_

_**Until Next time! :3**_


	7. Author's Note

Alright, I know what you're thinking; "Oh gosh she got my hopes up with a new chapter so soon, instead its only an author's note!" And sadly I have to agree; I don't like Author's notes and don't do them. However I feel this has to be addressed so there is no confusion.

During chapter 2 of this story Raven tells Crow about Alturas and some of the events that took place there, this of course also includes the religion that the Alturas people use. So I would like to make this very clear here and now; **Everything** about their religion is based completely on fiction and in no way represents anything regarding any actual religion.

I did very extensive research on different cultures and symbols they use and came up with something that I thought would not actually exist. But it has come to my attention that some people may not see it this way, which is why as a writer I feel like I have failed to convey the message of the story.

See the whole point of that part was too explain to you all what made Raven the way she is when she met Crow, the reason I brought this fake religion into it was so you would all understand why the people of Alturas did what they did to her. It's not because I was attempting to make fun or say a certain religion is bad, it was merely for explanation purposes only and so something like this _wouldn't_ happen I didn't go very deep into it.

Crow's comment after that point about "Religious mumbo jumbo" was just what I imagined he would think after being told about something like that, because in all honestly I don't believe they were ever introduced to a form to religion. The comment itself was in no way making fun of anything regarding religion and the people who practice it.

So in closing I would like to sincerely apologize to anyone that thought that particular part was in any way "making fun of" this particular subject. It was not my intention and I do hope that this note explains my feelings on this subject.

I do hope this does not deter anyone from reading and enjoying my story, and if you have any questions or comments regarding this please don't hesitate to PM me personally.

Now as a special bonus for having to go through all this I have managed to put together the next chapter for this story and I hope you all enjoy it. :)


	8. Healing and harsh words

_**Alright! Back to the story now! But before that i would like to thank all my lovely reviewers! It makes me happy that you all like this story so much! **_

**_Disclaimer: ME: OC and Plot Not ME: Yugioh 5Ds _**

* * *

Crow really didn't like these two now,

"Actually I'm not 'ok' with that. See she's my friend and I don't take too kindly to people taking my friends. So I'm gonna ask you once to put her down and walk away or I might not be so nice anymore."

To Crow's displeasure the woman just laughed, he had to clench his fists to keep from beating that smile right off her face.

"Crow! Ugh let me go you big lug!" Raven cried, said lug just pressed the knife against her neck drawing blood now. Her eyes widened, she stopped moving.

"Enough! Let's duel lady! I win, you let her go and don't bother us again, you win you get to take her and pray I don't come after your ass." Raven gasped as the woman smiled,

"Very well little boy, lets see what you've got."

They both stood across from each other not far from the shop, Crow shuffled the card Raven gave him into his deck and looked toward the pink haired woman,

"Ladies first!" he said giving a reassuring smile to Raven, 'Don't worry. I'll protect you and get back to the kids in no time.' He thought as the woman drew her first card.

"Very well little boy, I play my White Magician in attack mode and set one card face down!" A small boy in a white cloak appeared on the field holing a small white staff with 1200 attack points and 0 defense points.

Crow drew a card, "I can beat that easy, so how about I bring out my Blackwing – Fane the steel chain!" a black bird-like ninja took the field in a roar of wind with 500 attack points and 800 defense points. "Now because I already have a Blackwing on my side of the field I get to summon this guy; Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!" another smaller bird creature with green feathers on its head appeared with 1300 attack points and 300 defense points.

"Now go Gale the Whirlwind, so em why you're the best of the birds!" the smaller bird shot forward toward the small magician, before it could reach its destination the pink haired woman stopped him,

"Oh no you don't! I play my Hammer Shot spell card! Now because your little song bird has more attack points than my magician he gets dismissed from the field."

A giant hammer appears over Gale the Whirlwind landing right on top of him leaving nothing but a bunch of flash of light. Crow glared,

"Tch, well now I can activate my Fane's special ability, which means I can attack you directly!" the bird ninja leaped from its place and threw what looked to be feather kunai right at her, she let out a frustrated noise as her lifepoints dropped from 4000 to 3500.

Crow smiled, "But that's not the end! Since my Fane was able to give you damage your little mage gets put in the defense ring!" the woman glared, "Now with that I think I will end my turn!"

"You brat! You'll pay for that!" she drew another card; "Now I play my Gemini Elf in attack mode!" a pair of elves appeared on the field with 1900 attack points and 900 defense points. "Now, I tune my monsters together to summon, Chaos Command Magician!" Another magician appeared wearing long dark green armor and had 2400 attack points and 1900 defense points.

"Now my Chaos, attack this boys little pet! Chaos shot!" She yelled out as her monster jumped up and shot a ball of dark green magic toward Fane destroying him. Crow's lifepoints dropped too 2100.

"And don't think I'm done torturing you; because I have my Chaos Command Magician I can special summon my Chaos page!" A miniature version of the original appeared sporting 1500 attack points and 300 defense points.

The woman got a crazed look in her eyes, "Now attack this fool directly my page!" Raven screamed, Crow just smiled; 'Oh no you don't!' he thought as another Blackwing appeared on the field with black and red wings and 0 attack points and 1600 defense points.

The woman screeched, "How the hell did you do that?!

Crow smirked, "Meet my buddy Ghibil the Searing Wind. See whenever I'm attacked directly I can summon him straight from my hand to give me a little help!" The bird flew in front of Crow and took the hit from her Chaos page; he didn't take any damage from the blow.

"Fine! I end my turn!" Crow narrowed his eyes, 'I've got her now, time to end this!' he drew his card,

"Now I summon my Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North," a small white bird flew out of a sudden blizzard tornado, "Now because of this guy's effect I can summon back my Fane the steel chain from the grave, but these two aren't sticking around for long! Darkened gales become the wings which will soar to heaven! Synchro Summon, Blackwing - Armored Master!"

A light appeared around the two monsters and it faded as giant wind picked up revealing a very muscled man wrapped in black armor and wearing a helmet with a single eye on it,

"And I'm not even done yet! Now I play the magic card; Winged Heart!" the pink haired woman screams again, "Now try and pay attention, this is where it gets complicated, this card has two effects; the first gives my Armored Master an extra 500 points for every monster in my grave!"

Armored Masters Attack points shot up too 4000, "Now use your new power to show that Chaos Magician who the king of the skies is!" Armored Master flew into the sky and came crashing down in a whirlwind of power destroying her monster and sending her lifepoints down to 1900.

"I hope for your sake you keep your word, because this duel is over! Now because I have a Blackwing on my side of the field I can summon Blackwing – Bora the Spear from my hand!" The bird with a giant drill like spear came to the field,

"Now thanks to Winged Heart's second effect it gives my monster an extra 500 attack points and allows me to attack again! Go Bora the Spear, end this!"

The monster jumped forward and jammed its spear right into the pink haired woman and she screamed as her lifepoints dropped to 0, making Crow the winner.

* * *

Raven was in awe as the duel ended, she had never seen anyone duel like that. All of the red head's cards worked together to help each other, 'Just like a family.' She thought as said person turned his attention toward her, or rather the lug that was still holding her in the air like a piece of meat. The look in his steel eyes sent shivers down her spine, they weren't from fear but some other emotion she couldn't put her finger on.

"I wouldn't try anything funny there, buddy. We had a deal; now put her down and I won't have to kick your ass." The man behind her growled and looked toward the frazzled woman.

"Let her go, Greg. Mark wouldn't appreciate us not keeping our deal. Pandora always keeps its word." She said through clenched teeth.

Greg-the-lug instantly released her hands sending her falling hard onto the cold concrete; luckily she caught the plant before it hit the ground. Crow was by her side in an instant his hands incasing her shoulders checking for injuries, 'he's like a mother hen!' she thought, but had to suppress a giggle as the man and the woman walked to a car parked not far away.

The woman turned and looked straight at her,

"Don't think this is the last you'll see of us portal. And the next ones may not be so nice next time with your little friends, don't say I didn't warn you." She climbed into the waiting car and it sped away leaving nothing but a cloud of dust and a very confused duo, 'Portal? Why did she call me that…'

Raven shook her head, 'No! I can't think about that now!' she looked at Crow who had a serious look on his face as he stared at the place the two were standing at,

"Crow! We have to get back!" his stormy eyes widened for a second, before looking at her and nodding.

"Yeah…let's go."

~0~0~0~

A very short while later, as they had been going _way_ over the speed limit, Raven and Crow arrived back at Martha's and she was happy that although they had a slight detour that everything was going well and was under control. Even Yusei seemed to do well in his job, which was good as it was mostly boiling things in water.

After carefully preparing the plant and combining it with the things Yusei made it was finally ready. Crow complained the stuff smelled like sewer rat, and Raven had to agree, it made her wonder why something so good could smell so bad.

It took a bit longer to get the kids to drink the stuff, as she had made it in a drinkable form; they thought it would make them worse. Luckily Crow was there to make it better,

"It's a magic potion! A great healer heard of your plight and gave it too us to give to you! So you'd better take it and be grateful!"

The kids had luckily believed him and took it with little complaints; about an hour or so later to Raven's relief their fevers were almost completely gone. So while Crow and Martha put them to bed, Dr. Schmidt had thanked her and gone into his office to do something, while Yusei said his goodbyes for the night. Meanwhile, Raven stored the remaining medicine in a water bottle and stuffed it in her bag.

She fanned herself a bit from all the excitement, but she was glad to have helped out. 'Hmm…I wonder why Jack never showed up. He was probably busy with something.' Raven decided since it was probably cooler outside that she sit out there for a bit to cool off.

As she quietly slipped out the door she sat on the fence outside of the house, it was time to think about what happened today as much as she really did not want too. 'Who is Pandora? Didn't one of the gangster's from yesterday mention something about them?' a memory of the gangster came to mind,

"_Pandora is watching"_

She groaned, 'Just when I get more answers, more questions pop up! Why the heck did she call me 'portal'? Surely she couldn't be talking about that girl I saw in my dream…' Her head hurt immensely as she thought about it, 'Tch! I couldn't be that girl; I'm not special enough for the Crimson Dragon to choose me as its portal anyway. I'm just some dumb girl who had a pretty horrible life.' She was working on the whole accepting her reality thing, like Jack had said and as sad as it was, _that_ was her reality.

With that decided she blew out a sigh, and was surprised when it came out as smoke, there was a bit of wind and she realized how cold it really was. The weather here was so different from the hills where Alturas was, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She stood up blowing out more air, she didn't care if she looked like a child the act was interesting!

An icy wind blew sending shivers down her spine, that's when she heard it, like a voice hidden in the wind.

"_You must remember….remember…" _she turned around in a circle trying to find the owner, but there was no one. 'That was weird…remember? Remember what?' she thought as another gust of wind blew past her, it was colder than the last one and made her teeth chatter.

Still she didn't move from her spot as she thought about things, particularly Crow. She obviously liked him a lot, but that was what it felt like to be friends right? She had never had a friend before so she really didn't have anything to compare it too. She thought about asking him, but that seemed like one embarrassing conversation she _did not_ want to have with him.

"Raven?" Said red haired boy appeared, 'And there's something else I want to tell him.' But as she hadn't spoken about it since it happened could she really reveal all that to him? Could she risk baring herself that much? What would she do if he walked away after finding out the truth? Would she be able to recover from that? From finding a sort of happiness to having it all swept out from under her feet?

"_Yes." _The same voice from before answered, it was confident where she was insecure. Could she trust this voice? A part of her knew without a doubt that she could, but her rational brain thought otherwise.

"Helloooo? Raven? Is anybody home?" Crow said waving a hand in front of her face; she shook the thoughts from her brain, 'I will tell him…later.' She thought resolutely before turning her complete attention to Crow.

"Sorry, I guess I was just lost in my thoughts. How is everyone?" she blew warm air into her freezing hands to get some feeling back into them,

"They're all doing just fine. Thanks to you. I really don't know what I would have done if you weren't there." She let a small smile grace her lips as she turned from him.

"Now we can help the rest of the people in the city who got the illness too, you're gonna be a hero!" Her eyes widened,

"What do you mean?" she glanced at him; he had a confused look on his face.

"Well we just gotta give that cure over to the other hospitals so we can-"she cut him off with a sharp

"No!" he stared at her.

"Raven! You could help so many people with this and you're just willing to turn your back on them?" she couldn't look at him anymore, if it got out that it was an Alturasian medicine it could put her and everyone she knew in extreme danger, not just from people from Alturas, but the people outside who hated the Alturasian's.

"I'm sorry, I just can't! Please understand!" she wrapped her arms around herself to keep from shaking, but it did little good as Crow spoke again his voice sharp and harsh.

"Are you kidding me?! Your just gonna leave all those people to die? How can you be so heartless?!" he was angry, really angry and every word tore Raven to shreds.

Though nothing as much as what he said next;

"**Go die**!"

It took Raven a second to realize what he had said; when it finally registered she dropped her hands and let them hand loosely at her sides. She turned toward him; his eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt herself smile as the words he spoke finally reached him,

"W-wait! I-I didn't mean that…" he stuttered out eyes wide, still she smiled.

"No Crow, I think you've made yourself perfectly clear. Please understand that if it were to get out where this cure came from it would cause great trouble for those around me. And that is the last thing I want." His stormy eyes widened more, he was shocked.

"H-how?" was the only thing that came out of his mouth,

"Crow Alturas may be isolated from the world, but they've still made enemies. Many people hate them because of how they choose to live their lives. If it got out that one was living in a city this big…." 'Why can't I stop smiling? This doesn't feel like a happy smile…'

She started walking toward her runner and slipped on her helmet,

"Crow, if it means that much to you. I will give the cure to a hospital, but then I will have to leave the city." She looked back at him as a tear made its way down her cheek but still she was smiling. "But I guess that would be fine with you. Thanks for sticking around this long, see you." She climbed on her runner and quickly sped off ignoring his voice calling her name.

As soon as Raven was far enough from the place did her smile finally drop, the icy wind in her face froze her tears before they could drop. It didn't stop her heart from feeling like it was trapped in a vice. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she knew she couldn't go back to her apartment; Crow's essence was still there. Thinking about it now made her feel like she was quite literally dying as his words played through her head over and over.

Before she knew it she was off the highway that let back into the city and on a Cliffside road by what she guessed was the sea. As she got closer and closer to the shore she stopped paying attention to the road, and the sign that would have told her what was to come, and more towards the water. She had never seen it this close before.

Raven screamed as the front of her runner suddenly jerked to the right, she tried to go backwards on her back tire but found that also unable to get a grip on the road, she watched as her tires slid out of control down the incline toward the rocky shore ahead.

She closed her eyes as her runner hit a bump and she felt the solidness of her runner vanish from beneath her. As her consciousness slipped away only one thing was left on her mind, 'Not yet…'

* * *

_**And there we have it! Sorry if this chapter is a bit sorter than my usual ones, I'm still trying to get over my cold. Please R&R with any questions, comments or things you didn't like! I always want to improve for all of you! **_

_**Till next time! :3**_


	9. Feelings and Brotherly love?

_**Hello Hello again! I have returned and am now completely illness free which is good because I really felt awful. Anyway, I would like to thank FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne, Flameflinger Girl and all the anonymous reviewers! Also to the Anon about Alturas; I have considered that idea many times and am currently fiddling around with a possible character for that might work but probably won't be brought in until later into the story. I am also glad we got that misunderstanding cleared up! **_

**_Disclaimer: I own only my OC's and the plot!_**

* * *

Jack Atlas sat impatiently on his duel runner outside of Raven's apartment, she clearly _wasn't_ there. So instead he tried calling her, a number he would never admit that he had stolen from the girl, but to no avail. The blonde was not a patient man, especially so right at this moment.

He had talked to Yusei the night before and got an update from him on what happened the previous day. Due to that information he decided he needed to find the girl as soon as possible, but her being no where to be found made that rather difficult.

He growled,

"Where the duce is she?! You'd think she would be at her own _house_ right now but-" he was cut short from his ranting to himself as a black and yellow duel runner pulled up next to him,

"Jack? What are you doing here?"

He scoffed,

"None of your business bird brain! Tell me where the duce your little girlfriend is!" Even from beneath Crows visor Jack could tell the guy was blushing.

"She isn't here?" he said worried.

"Of course not! I wouldn't be asking if she was!" Jack was getting annoyed and a little worried too. And seeing the guilty I took a cookie from the cookie jar, look his suspicions were correct and he glared at the shorter male.

"What did you do now?!" he asked knowing the red head had to of said something to the dark haired girl.

He glared at the blonde and Jack just sent it right back, a voice interrupted their staring contest.

"Oh! It's the nice delivery boy! How are you?" A wrinkled old lady with snow white hair and a shawl over her blue dress was hopping down the steps of the apartment toward them; Jack was surprised a lady of her age was still roaming about without a walker.

"Oh, hey Ms. Carrie, you haven't seen Raven have you?" the woman thought about it,

"I'm afraid not dear, I'm a little worried. She hasn't been back for a few days, she's such a sweet girl. She's not from here right?" they nodded, "Oh dear, I hope she wasn't driving that duel runner of hers last night. A bunch of the roads got iced over, it's better now thanks to the city but I heard accidents were happening left and right with all the ice on the road. If it's bad for people from Neo Domino I can't imagine how she would fare."

The woman pointed her finger toward them, "You boys better take good care of her! She may not understand a lot of what's going on around town but she knows what it's like to be out of control. She needs you boys to give her some stable ground to stand on." With that the woman hobbled away humming a strange tune.

Jack and Crow glanced at each other,

"Look, I put my foot in my mouth again. Can you help me find her?" Jack stared into his friends eyes, and sighed.

"Fine, but only because I, Jack Atlas, need her for something important."

Crow looked confused but nodded his head,

"Call me if you find her." And with that they both sped away in opposite directions, Jack going faster than normal. He had a reason to find her quickly and right now he was running out of time.

~0~0~0~

Jack had driven up town, with no luck. Now as he drove down the scenic route back toward her apartment he was almost hyper aware, looking for any sign that she might have gone this way. 'Knowing that dimwit she's probably lost and crying somewhere.'

As he headed down the incline he noticed one of the guard rails that over looked the rocky beach was broken outward, his deep purple eyes narrowed as he slowed his runner down to a stop, sliding on the remaining ice a bit.

The blondes eyes widened again as he stared into the distance, something was sticking out of the rocks by the shore, not believing what he was seeing he rode the incline down to the shore and ran over to the rocks, his breath catching in his throat. Sitting on them was a black and purple bird like runner, though _sitting _wasn't the right word for what that runner looked like.

It looked like someone had gone full speed into the rocks and even then still hadn't stopped, Jack guessed she had slid down the incline and landed against the rocks were her runner bounced to a halt. The only thing missing was….Raven herself!

He looked around the area a bit expecting to find her with her skull cracked open against the rocks, but, though he would never admit it out loud, she was thankfully no where in sight. This left just one question;

"Where the bloody hell is she?" he yelled into the sky as a wave crashed against the rocks.

"Jack, who are you yelling at?" a voice said from beside him, he looked down to see the dark haired girl perfectly intact and unharmed. The blonde jumped down and hit her hard across the head,

"How dare you make me, Jack Atlas, worry about you!" She rubbed her head and smiled but it fell quickly,

"Why were you worried about me? What are you doing here Jack?" said blonde narrowed his eyes, as he looked into her once bright blue ones, now just dull and lifeless.

"Why doesn't matter! I should be asking _you_ that!_"_ he pointed at her, she glanced at the remains of her runner.

"I crashed my runner, and it was so icy I couldn't walk up the hill again. So I just kinda stayed here, and breathed."

'What the devil does that mean?!' he thought as he thought back to what Crow had said, then he knew what Crow had meant by what he said earlier. It made him angry to see what his friend had done to this once happy girl.

He vaguely wondered why it mattered so much to him, but he had more important things to worry about right now.

"Whatever, just come with me. I need your assistance." With that he picked her up by her waist and got back on his runner tossing her over his lap so her head was against his chest and her legs hung off the side of the armrest as he started the engine.

"Wait! Jack, what about my runner?" she sounded nervous and wrapped her arms around his torso,

"Calm down, I will get Bruno to come pick it up. I'm sure that dimwit Crow will be happy to repair it!" Jack took off up the hill with a scream from Raven as she held on tighter.

"Jack! You're insane, this can't be safe!" Jack laughed and went faster,

"Nonsense! Just don't fall off!" he said as they took a turn onto the highway back into the city. He quickly called Bruno on his runner's phone and told him where to get Raven's runner, the blue haired mans face was a mix of surprise and happiness, a sentiment the blonde himself secretly shared after seeing what remained of her duel runner.

"W-Wait Jack! Does that mean you found her? Is she alright?" he asked concerned, Raven took this chance to speak,

"No! Raven is scared to death right now! Plus to add insult to injury he's _kidnapping _me!"

Jack rolled his eyes, and people called him a drama queen?

"Don't you worry about her. Just tell Crow and Yusei she's fine and come get her runner!" and with that he hung up. The blonde noticed that she was staring at something behind them,

"What the duce are you staring at?"

She blinked curious,

"It looks like we're being followed." Jack glanced behind them seeing a man on a pure black duel runner with a matching suit and a dark green SUV following after them.

"They friends of yours?" he asked her, she shook her head.

"I've never seen them before, but they came up behind us while we were talking to Bruno." Just then the man on the dark runner sped up right next to them coming up on the side where her feet where hanging off. Jack couldn't see his face, but his bright green eyes stuck out behind his visor.

The man reached out and tried to grab her leg, but Jack swerved just out of his reach making her squeeze his chest even tighter.

"What the hell do you want? Go away you creep!" Raven said, though Jack could tell she was scared.

"Jack Atlas! Give me the girl and I won't have to hurt you!" the man said pointing to Jack now. The blonde scoffed,

"You? Hurt Jack Atlas? Stop fooling yourself and go away!"

The man growled,

"Fine! Looks like we are gonna have to do this the hard way! I challenge you Jack Atlas, I win you give me the girl." Jack nodded and activated his duel disk.

"Let's duel!"

Raven freaked out,

"Are you _insane_?! You can't duel with me riding piggy back! Jack _stop_!" said blonde just stared straight ahead,

"Trust me." Her eye's widened and she looked away, her bangs hiding her eyes.

"You better win." She mumbled.

Jack just smiled,

"Jack Atlas never loses! Now, I'll start things off by using the effect of my Vice Dragon which allows me to summon him from my hand in attack mode!" A very muscled purple dragon appeared with 2000 attack points and 2400 defense points.

"Then I will summon my Dark Resonator in attack mode!" A monster holding a tuning fork jumped next to Vice dragon, "Now I tune my two monsters together, the ruler's heartbeats will now file through here! Take witness to its creation-shaking power! Synchro Summon! My very soul, Red Dragon Archfiend!"

Jack saw Raven smile at the sight of his dragon, he would never say it but he was happy to see her smile again.

"Now I place three cards face down and end my turn!" He noticed his mark start to glow but paid it little attention as the man next to him took his turn.

"I summon my Firebird in attack mode, and with the effect of my King Tiger in my hand I can play him in defense mode as long as I have another beast type on my field." A small red bird and a giant tiger landed on the field each sporting 1000 attack points and 1700 attack points.

"Then I activate my Beast shield spell card! With this on the field you can't attack any beast types on my side of the field." Jack glared at him,

"Now I use the effect of my baby mammoth in my hand to attack you directly with my King Tiger! Go Tiger slash!" The tiger ran forward and slashed away 1700 of Jacks lifepoints; they swerved slightly but Jack maintained control and sped back up again.

"You won't get away with attacking Jack Atlas! I activate Abysmal Designator, now say bye bye to your beast shield!" the card blew up as a shadow wrapped around it,

"Now I summon my Mad Archfiend!" a monster with bright pink hair and a mouth for a torso jumped onto the field with 1800 attack points.

"Red Dragon Archfiend, attack his little song bird! Scorching Crimson flare!" The dragon gathered its energy above its head and sent it flying toward the bird destroying it instantly and taking 2000 of his lifepoints with it.

"Don't think you can win against Pandora boy! We will get the portal, no matter what!" he yelled,

"What the duce are you talking about? What do you want?" the man smiled,

"That girl you have in your arms is more important than you think Mr. Atlas! She is the key to everything we have worked for! Just look at her!"

Jack looked down and gasped, her eyes were glowing a bright yellow as she stared up at Red Dragon Archfiend,

"What the duce?" he looked to the man, "Tell me what you did to her you bastard!" the man just laughed.

"You mean what we didn't do to her! She was created for the soul purpose of bringing that Crimson Dragon to this world! She is the portal for that great dragon you signers keep so precious!" Jack couldn't believe his ears,

"Nonsense! I think you've been sniffing runner grease for too long! I use my Mad Archfiend's special ability to turn your tiger into defense mode! Now attack my Mad Archfiend!"

"Not so fast! I activate my jungle barrier which negates your attack! Sorry about that Mr. Atlas!" Jack glared and ended his turn, glancing back down at Raven. She was still staring up at his dragon with her strange eyes, Jack didn't believe she could be a portal for anything but he had to admit the timing was strange, as he summons his dragon his mark activates and she goes into zombie-mode?

Jack decided to ask her later, as the man made his move.

"First, I activate my Beast Revival to bring back by Firebird with 500 extra attack points!" the bird reappeared on the field in a tornado of fire screeching loudly.

"Then I summon my Tuner cat in attack mode! But they won't be staying long as I tune them all together to summon my Wicked Eraser!" fire engulfed the field as a giant gold armored dragon appeared from the darkness with 2000 attack and defense points.

Jack laughed, "So _that's_ your big strategy? Pathetic! My Red Dragon Archfiend still has 1000 more attack points than your metal monster!" the man smiled in return,

"I'm not done Mr. Atlas! I activate my Rush recklessly to increase my monsters attack by however many monsters I have in my card graveyard by 400 points!" The metal dragon's attack points shot up to 3200, "Now attack his Red Dragon Archfiend, Wicked fire!"

Jack pressed a button on his duel disk and activated a card,

"I activate my Synchro Deflector! It looks like your Eraser is about to get erased because this card destroys any monster that attacks one of my synchro monsters!" the man cried out as his dragon was blown away.

"Jack! That was so cool!" Raven said suddenly, he looked back down and she was back to her normal self,

"Are you okay?" Jack asked, she looked confused "Yeah, my back feels kinda funny but otherwise I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she seemed to have no knowledge of zoning out or the glowing yellow eyes.

"I end my turn Atlas!" the man said, clearly defeated. Jack glared at him,

"This duel is over! Attack Red Dragon Archfiend, Absolute Power force!" a red light surrounded Jack's dragon as he crashed into the man on the black runner, smoke blew out the back as he skidded to a halt, Jack stopping just a few yards ahead of him.

"Don't think you've seen the last of us portal! We will get you back and I promise, your friends might just pay the price, Pandora always gets what it wants!" and with that he turned and drove the opposite direction and out of sight.

"These people are Looney! Honestly just leave me alone." Raven said looking where he once was.

"But that was very impressive Jack; I see why you call yourself the king now!" Jack scoffed,

"Well of course! I was born for greatness! Now hold on, we've got a place to be!" and with that he sped off.

Raven's butt had officially gone numb by the time Jack finally stopped and turned off the engine, as soon as he lifted the arm rest that was blocking her in she jumped up and stretched, groaning at how sore she was.

Jack grabbed her arm and dragged her into an apartment complex,

"Jack! Where are we going? Let go." Jack didn't listen, just dragged her through a small lobby and up about 3 flights of stairs. Finally they came to a door, which Jack shoved a key into and opened before tossing her in and locking the door behind him.

He stared at her for a second; she was a little concerned with hismental status.

"What you are about to help me with, you can't say a single word to anyone about! Got it?" she nodded,

"What-"but he shushed her as he walked to a door down the hall, and opening the first one on the right.

Raven assumed he wanted her to follow so she did, and what she saw was surprising. In the small room was a dresser, a small closet and a bed with a nightstand, that wasn't what surprised her however, it was the figure laying in the bed with black hair that was matted to her forehead from all the sweat, her triangle shaped bangs pushed up away from her face by a wet cloth. And Jack sitting in a chair by the bed this girls hand firmly clasped in his own,

"Carly. Love, wake up." Her dark eyes opened up a crack,

"J-Jack?"

Just saying that caused a round of very painful sounding coughs from the girl; Jack rubbed her back until they passed. Raven placed a hand over her heart, her eyes wide as she watched how he treated this girl, like she was the most precious thing in the world.

"Carly listen, I've bought a friend of mine. She's a good doctor, and will fix you right up." He looked at Raven then who shook her head and slowly walked fully into the room to stand by the bed,

"M-May I examine her?"

Raven was nervous; it was one thing to deal with children who were sick. But to heal someone's girlfriend, especially when that someone was Jack Atlas, was more than a _little_ nerve wracking. He nodded and she quickly began to look over the girl,

"Y-You're the new psychic duelist in town right?" her voice was like sandpaper as she began coughing again the blonde gently rubbed her cheek,

"Shhh don't talk, save your energy so you can get better alright?"

Once she was finished she took Carly's temperature, she was burning way up. "

Jack, how long has she been like this?" Jack looked…sad as he replied.

"Since yesterday, she fainted while we were making dinner. But refused to go to a hospital." Raven nodded, understanding her hesitance to go.

"Alright Ms. Carly, I've got something that will get you fixed up in no time. It just needs to be heated up, so why don't you sleep for the time being?" Carly smiled as her eyes slid shut again.

Raven pulled the water bottle out of her bag; luckily it hadn't been damaged in the crash. Jack looked at the bottle in her hand,

"That's what's going to help her? Some green mush?" she nodded and got up again, she could tell Jack was scared for Carly but was trying his best not to show it.

She looked him right in the eye,

"Trust me." His eyes widened as he stared into hers, he smiled and nodded his head. With that Raven headed off to the kitchen to use the stove.

Not long after, Carly took the medicine but not without some gagging on everyone's part. But she did seem more comfortable as she slept, which bode well for her. She walked out and sat in a chair by the table, completely exhausted. But she fought off the urge to sleep as she heard the door click shut.

Jack walked out a relived look on his face,

"She'll be alright now. It's good that you found me when you did, otherwise we would have been too late and she would have gotten much worse." He nodded and sat down on the couch beside her, well more like fell. He looked just as tired as she felt.

"Long night?" she said jokingly,

"Tell me about it." He replied back, she giggled and sighed burying her head in her arms that she had crossed on top of the table. "I'm serious, tell me about it." Raven looked at him, not understanding.

"Tell me what happened. You just saved Carly, the least I can do you let you vent." Raven sighed,

"Crow told me to go die."

It took Jack less then a second to process what she had said as he jumped from the couch,

"Why the duce would he say that?!" he wasn't yelling but Raven could tell he wanted too,

"_that_ cure I just gave Carly is why. I told him I couldn't give it to the hospitals here." Now the blonde turned his fury on her,

"Why the hell not?! It could help a lot of people just like Carly and those kids! Are you just-" Raven cut him off as she sat up and leaned against the back of the chair staring tat the ceiling.

"I changed my mind. Despite the dangers to myself and to you and the others, I've decided to give it to the city." Jack looked confused,

"What made you change your mind?" Raven smiled sadly,

"Crow did actually. When he said what he did I thought, 'wow, he really cares about the people here. Enough to ask me to do something like die for not doing anything.' I feel bad that I made him go that far. So if it makes him happy, I will give the cure to the hospitals. But I would also have to leave the city."

Raven wasn't sure why she was telling him all of this, but she just felt like she could tell him and he would judge her and help her.

"You don't need to leave you idiot!" her eyes widened as she looked into his serious purple eyes.

"Yusei, me and that dolt Crow would protect you from anyone that came after you! Didn't I prove that earlier!" she sighed out,

"Jack, I've been beaten to an inch of my life my people I was supposed to trust. I can't just suddenly start relying on people that I've only just met. It wouldn't be right."

He smacked her head again,

"Just shut up! We're all your _friends_! You rely on your friends to have your back when things get tough! So just get over it and rely on us! Pandora, Gangsters, whoever comes after you, _we will protect you_!" he said confidently, she stared up at him wide eyed as a tear slid down her cheek; she quickly wiped it away with a smile.

"Right, I will try harder next time." She promised.

"Now, what do you know about this Pandora that the guy mentioned earlier?" Raven shrugged,

"From what I can tell they think I'm this portal thing for the Crimson Dragon, they attacked me and Crow yesterday, and the gangster also said something about them. I've never even heard of Pandora till yesterday, so we're In the same boat here."

Jack looked suspicious,

"And how pray tell, do you know about the Crimson Dragon?" she thought about it,

"I believe it was something called, 'Wikipedia'. It told all about the Crimson Dragon, the Signers, the Dark Signers, and even the portal. So it has to exist right? This person who is supposed to be the portal?"

Jack seemed to be carefully considering this,

"Oh and I know all about the whole you and others being Signers thing. I'm not sure if that's a secret or not but I'm just putting that out there." Jack seemed surprised by this,

"How the duce did you know?"

She giggled, "it's not hard to figure out ya know. The whole red marks things kinda stands out." Jack lay his head against the back of the couch,

"Oh, I forgot to call Crow. We'll let the dimwit suffer for a bit longer; he deserves it for what the bird brain said to you. It's just not something you say to another person, especially you."

Raven laughed again,

"What?" he asked confused,

"N-Nothing…"she blushed,

"Tell me, don't just laugh!" she giggled again,

"I-It's just that you're acting just like an older brother, its sweet." Raven expected him to freak out, or blush. But he did neither, just laid there his arms folded behind his head.

"Good! Someone needs to be your brother; it might as well be me, Jack Atlas!" her eyes widened but she smiled.

"I am honored." Was all she said as she went back to staring at the ceiling.

"So…Do you like Crow?" Jack asks casually, but she can still feel the embarrassment in his voice,

"Of course I like him, he's my friend." She answered simply. 'But for how long remains to be seen.' She thought sadly.

Jack thought for a moment before trying again,

"No, I mean, do you…ya know like like him? As more than a friend?" Raven blushed as she thought about it, she did feel something for the boy but couldn't put her finger on it what it was. She shook the thoughts from her head though as his words played over and over in her mind.

"I wouldn't know if I did Jack, besides Crow probably won't ever speak to me again so it doesn't matter." Her heart hurt thinking about, making every breath she took painful. After all, she was used to people hating her, but this was a person she had become close too so the pain hurt all the more.

"Nonsense! He may be an idiot, and have a hot temper but Crow has a good heart. And he obviously cares about you! Even if the fool doesn't admit it out loud." Raven desperately wanted to believe him but for a person with such a kind heart to say something so cruel wasn't something she could take again.

She stood up now, grabbing her bag off the table.

"I really want to believe you Jack. I do, but I don't know if I can. Not yet…" She looked back at Jack and noticed he had drifted off and was in a deep sleep, she sighed and covered him with the blanket.

"Sweet dreams Jack." And she left the apartment.

* * *

_**And there we have it! I hope everyone enjoys Jack's little duel and I really really hope I kept up with his dueling style. Please R&R with any helpful comments or thoughts or even things you don't like! **_

_**Till next time! :3**_


	10. The key to happiness is bad memories

_**Hello all! I've returned with another chapter! But first i would like to thank my lovely reviewers; FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne and the ever so mysterious Anon! Along with my new story followers! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story. **_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah I still only own my Characters and the plot. :/**_

* * *

Crow finally returned to Poppo Time after having absolutely no luck in finding Raven, his mark did react for a bit there. But stopped after a while, so he paid no attention to it. As soon as he walked in he noticed how quiet it was, Yusei and Bruno were standing around looking at something, their bodies blocking whatever they were so focused on.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he said parking his runner and walking over to them, his heart stopped as he got a look at what they were staring at; a black and purple runner was being held up by a jack, at least what was left of it. Pieces of it were spread out around it, the front half was so smashed it didn't even look like a runner.

His first thoughts were, 'Nobody could of survived a crash like that.' But Yusei put a hand on his shoulder,

"Dude, calm down. She's alright, Jack picked her up and she's with him now. The runner is pretty banged up but Bruno talked to her." Said blue haired man spoke up now.

"Yeah! She was screaming pretty loudly, but looked just fine." He smiled as he said this,

"Plus it's better than it looks! The frame is still pretty much intact and the engine was only dented a bit, and the steering is pretty banged up, not to mention the duel engine, and the outer armor needs to be replaced. Oh! And-"Yusei placed a hand over Bruno's mouth to stop him as it wasn't helping Crow in the least.

"He _means_ it's bad, but not irreparable. And Raven's fine, you know Jack; he will take good care of her." Crow nodded knowing he was right, but he still needed a way to apologize to her. That's when a thought came to mind,

"Do you think we could fix it up? I messed up big time with her and I think it would make her really happy if we did!"

Yusei looked to Bruno who nodded and they set to work.

* * *

Raven was once again wandering aimlessly, only this time without her runner. Which made her sigh every time she thought about it, 'I'm going to have to go get it eventually from them, and fixing it is going to take forever. Looks like I'm not going anywhere for a while.'

Raven eventually found a hospital and after playing with the security cameras so they wouldn't see who left the package containing their cure she quickly ran into the stream of people. Now that she finally got a good look around, she did love this place.

Even with all of the people around she didn't feel like anyone would be of great danger to her, she finally broke away from the crowd and sat in the square right on the edge of the fountain. She needed to clear her mind, so she pulled out her sketch book and started sketching random people.

It didn't take long before her thoughts were nothing but what she was working on and how she should draw this person's hair or hand or if the line was straight. She jumped however when someone shouted her name right in her ear.

"RAVEN!" her pencil flew out of her hand and into the fountain and her sketchbook onto the floor in front of her. She turned and saw the teal haired boy again, 'Le- something…Oh! Leo!' she thought as she quickly smiled at him.

"S-Sorry! I wasn't paying attention. How are you Leo?" the boy smiled but was soon hit over the head with a brown book bag. His sister Luna stood behind him,

"Dummy, you scared her! Geeze can't you at least say hello like a normal person?" he turned about to yell when Akiza came running up.

"Sorry I'm late! I got distracted with my studies!" she was breathing hard, they were all still wearing their school clothes.

"It's no biggie! Look who we found!" Akiza looked up and noticed Raven sitting there,

"oh dear! Aren't you cold? That jacket can't be very warm!"

Now that the dark haired girl thought about it, she was getting rather cold. But she didn't have anything warmer,

"Akiza, why don't we invite her? I bet she would love to come along!" Luna suggested and the magenta haired girl nodded.

"Umm…go where?" Leo sighed as he walked the length of the fountain,

"Luna and Akiza are gonna go to the mall to shop for coats! Ugh boring!" he whined,

"oh shut up Leo, you need one too so don't complain. Would you like to come with us Raven?" Luna said happily.

Raven couldn't resist how cute she was so without thinking she said yes and they were off.

~0~0~0~

After a few hours and visiting many stores the four sat at a table in the food court drinking their sodas. Raven wasn't sure about this trip, but she did enjoy herself a lot. And Akiza and Luna had made her get so many things. Shirts, jeans, boots, sneakers, and even a dress!

But her favorite thing had to be the coats she found; one was long and blue stopping just above her knee, it had a belt around the waist before it flared out around her thighs, it had buttons going up to her neck and sleeves that were so long they had to fold them up a bit, but it was still amazing. The other one Akiza had insisted she buy, it was a fluffy down jacket this one was shorter stopping just below her belt with a zipper and buttons going all the way up and a hood with what the store owner had assured her was faux fur around it, Luna had also found a long orange scarf with a blackbird at the end to match.

Raven was so tired, but she didn't want this trip to end. And before she knew it they were standing outside of Poppo Time as the sun was just about to set. Not ready to face the orange haired man just yet she turned to leave.

"W-well, I guess I should be going now…" But Akiza dragged her back toward the door laughing,

"No way! We've got to show the guys what we got! Especially what we got them!"

She tried to wiggle out of the woman's grasp but her grip was like a vice, Raven had told them about what had happened between her and Crow, and she certainly wasn't ready to have to face him. But it appeared Akiza wasn't giving her a choice in the matter.

Raven looked down at the brown bag in her hand, and sighed. 'I suppose she does have a point.'

"Yusei! We're back!" Akiza said as they entered the room, She stared at the floor and blush across her face, but she could still hear them stuttering, as if they were hiding something. But when she looked up there was nothing out of the ordinary, Just Yusei smiling at Akiza as she spoke with him and Bruno avoiding eye contact with her.

That's when she noticed the black tarp covering something.

'Well, unless that tarp was there last time and I didn't see it. Maybe Yusei started something new?' she thought as her pale blue eyes scanned around for what was left of her own runner. Her heart sank as she found there was no trace of it, 'Was it really that badly damaged?' she couldn't remember.

"Hey guys." Bruno said breaking her from her thoughts, "How was the mall? Get anything good?" her heart sank further as Bruno still avoided eye contact with her,

"Oh yeah, especially Raven here! What kind of girl doesn't own a dress?!" Leo said plunking his bags down and sitting on the couch.

Raven blushed and looked around for Crow, when she didn't see him she tried for his runner. Both were missing, she sighed in both relief and disappointment. Her and Akiza had found something special and she wanted Crow to see it, 'Oh well, he probably doesn't want to see me anyway.' Her heart felt like it had barbed wire around it, a constant pain but not enough to kill her just yet, even with the tears she felt forming behind her eyes she refused to cry.

"Raven?" said girl blinked as Luna stood in front of her wearing her new coat,

"You should show them yours too! It's so pretty!" Raven was reluctant,

"Yeah come on, you bought it, and so you should show it off!" Bruno said finally looking her in the eye.

Raven nodded as she dug it out the long blue one and after slipping off her own jacket and making sure no one saw her marks she pulled it on. It wrapped around her perfectly and though it was a little long in the arms the cuff sleeves were very comfortable.

Akiza and Luna smiled, Leo got up and quickly dug inside her bag pulling out her orange scarf and tying it a little too tightly around her neck. She coughed and loosened it a bit, the bird on it was black and it made her happy to have it on her chest.

Bruno smiled,

"Wow, you look great Raven! Very cute!" the girl blushed and clasped her hands together.

"T-Thank y-you." She stuttered out,

"I agree, that's a good choice." Yusei chimed in; it was all Raven could do to keep from fainting from so much praise.

The sound of a runner pulling in distracted them from Raven, her eyes widened as Crow returned from wherever he was. After pulling off his helmet he grabbed the box that was tied to the back of the Blackbird, his cheeks were red from the cold but it didn't seem to bother him as he locked eyes with Raven.

She blushed more, if that was possible, as he looked her up and down;

"Wow…" There was a strangeness in his voice that made Raven's heart rise just a little. Crow still seemed to be floundering as Yusei asked him something.

"Crow, did you get it?" said red-haired boy shook himself from the trance, and nodded his head before putting the box he held down by the tarp.

"Oh speaking of getting something, we brought you guys something too!" Akiza said holding up her bags.

"Akiza, you didn't have to do that." Yusei said smiling at her with a strange look in his eyes. Now that Raven thought about it, he always seemed to get that look when Akiza was brought up, or around. It was a look very similar to the look she saw in Jack's eyes as he sat by Carly's bedside and even….'the look Crow gives _me' _ she shook that thought away as his words from previous night hit her again.

Akiza pulled out a black jacket with black and yellow in the shoulders and white fur around the collar. She blushed slightly,

"This is for you Yusei." He blushed as he took it nodding his thanks.

Luna stood in front of Bruno and smiled as she handed him a bag,

"This is for you Bruno!" he opened it and smiled as he held up a blue down jacket with black arms and matching buttons going all the way up. This one had a hood with black fur around it.

"Thank you so much Luna, Leo! I will wear it all the time!"

Akiza was staring at Raven, motioning over to Crow who was standing awkwardly by the stairs. She blushed losing her nerve, Akiza walked over and looping her arm through Raven's and dragging her over to the red head.

"I think Raven got you something too Crow." Akiza pushed her toward him and she blushed more gripping the handle of the bag. Her heart was pounding so hard she wondered if everyone could hear it too, she closed her eyes and thrust the bag toward him as tears formed in her eyes.

"I-I umm…G-Got this f-for y-you. I-I hope y-you l-like I-It." As he took the bag she pressed her shaking arms against her chest to calm the fierce pounding in her chest. Crow smiled wide as he held up a brown down jacket with buttoned pockets on the breast and white fur trim around the hood.

Tears fell down her face as he smiled at her with _that _look, and when he wrapped his arms securely around her shoulders something inside her broke. The hurt from before vanished and the clamp around her heart seemed to come loose, she couldn't stop the tears from cascading down her cheeks or the sobs from wracking her body, she was probably blushing also but that wasn't on her list of worries at the moment.

Raven gripped his shirt tightly as she buried her face in his neck,

"I-I'm so sorry Crow! I-I'm so sorry you had to say those words. P-Please don't hate me." Raven wasn't sure how to control herself at this point, or even if she wanted too.

* * *

Crow was surprised, to say the least; first he gets a new jacket and now he had a sobbing girl in his arms apologizing over and over again. Crow thought back to when he was taking care of the children in Satellite; he rubbed circles on her back and shushed her.

"It's ok, shhh." He said over and over, he figured they needed some privacy right about now so he carefully lifted her under her legs and walked up the stairs.

"You gonna be ok Crow?" Yusei asked seriously, he nodded and walked into his room shutting the door behind him.

Setting her down on the bed he grabbed the box of tissue on his dresser and handed it too her, she stared at the ground as she took some and wiped her eyes. He sat beside her and grabbed her hand; it was cold in his grasp.

"Raven listen, you don't need to apologize about before. I was the one who was a jerk-face. I didn't take the time to understand what was going on before running my mouth, and then I let my temper get the better of me. And now because I chased you off you got in a horrible accident, so _you, _Raven have nothing to be sorry for." He squeezed her hand as he said that.

It had been killing him that he had said such a horrible thing to her, and every sniffle she made and tear that rolled down her cheeks tore him apart inside. Raven didn't say anything for a long while, the red head wasn't sure how much time had passed though but it _felt_ long.

Finally she tried saying something, her voice still thick with emotion. "Crow, I-I'm not a strong person. I get scared by everything, every action, even every thought I have. So when I told you why I couldn't give them the cure I felt like such a coward, I was scared."

"Raven, you know I would protect you, all of us would!" He gripped her hand tighter, she just shook her head.

"No, I was scared _for_ all of you!" his eyes widened as a warm fluttering feeling came into his chest, Raven blushed as she continued.

"The very idea of any of you getting hurt scares me to no end. Even my thinking that scare's me! Pandora, gangsters! I don't understand what's going on!" she gripped her head her body shaking with the force of her emotions.

Even through all this the only thought that rang through his mind was, 'cute!' but he shook the thought away and placed his arm around her shoulders.

"Don't you worry about us, don't you know by now we're stronger than we look?" he chuckled as he said this.

"Besides, Jack can scare away anyone with just his ego!" Raven giggled, it sounded like little wind chimes to Crow. She pulled away and sighed, her bangs hiding her eyes so Crow couldn't tell how she was feeling at the moment. A second later she fell backwards onto the bed with a thump.

"My head hurts…"

Crow laughed and leaned on one arm beside her,

"You're so silly." He said as he began stroking her hair, Raven closed her eyes. Eyes that had dark circles under them he noticed, which sent another lash of guilt through his system. Her mumbling shook the thoughts of apology from his head,

"So…d-do you really like the jacket? Akiza told me you hadn't gotten one yet…"

The red head smiled and leaned forward pressing his forehead against her own, her eyes snapped open and she blushed at their closeness. Even Crow had to admit he was also surprised at his boldness tonight,

"I love it. I will use it all the time and think of you when I do."

Crow's heart felt like someone had attached a jumper to it, it was pounding so hard. Being this close to her, feeling her breath on his face, her scent, all of it was what spurred him to move his face just a bit closer. To tangle one of his hands into the dark strands of her hair, to pull her toward him, their lips just a breath away…

"What?! Why the duce didn't I get anything? How dare you treat your king this way!" Jack yelled from downstairs, effectively shattering the moment and causing both parties to jump away from one another blushing bright red.

'Damn it, note to self; kill Jack Atlas.' He thought nervously scratching the back of his head; Raven sat against his pillows a bright shade of red shading her cheeks as she held her hands against her chest. Crow reached out an apology on his lips as someone knocked on the door, interrupting him _again._

Looking over at Raven, who looked like she wasn't even aware of anything, he sighed and got up. Opening the door he saw Jack standing there and instantly wanted to punch him, but refrained if only for Raven's sake.

"It's getting late you dolt! Take her home, everyone else is leaving too!" and with that proclamation he turned and walked into his room. 'Note to self: kill Jack Atlas _slowly_.' He thought annoyed with the blonde.

"Crow?"

He turned, Raven was still staring at his sheets but he clearly heard her.

"Raven, what is it?" Slowly she turned and looked at him, just looked. Her pale blue eyes searching for something, she looked back at the bed and dropped her hands in her lap.

"My parent's died in a house fire 3 years ago…" the red head's heart just stopped, he really wasn't expecting her to say that,

"Raven, Wha-"

"It was my fault." She cut him off. He frowned,

"I'm sure it-"she just shook her head still staring at her hands.

"Because I was born, my parent's suffered. More than they should have, so when I came back home one day without getting beaten I thought it was strange. But I put it out of my mind and went to bed; I woke up later with my room filled with smoke." She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the floor.

"My dad broke down the door and was able to get me out, but he went back for my mother. And I watched from the backyard as my parent's burned alive." she whispered the last part but he heard it _very_ clearly.

"Because I was born into their family they had to die in such a manner. And the villagers did nothing but ridicule me, they told me from that time on that my life was my sin. I just...I don't know…I wanted to tell you that."

Crow was surprised; his only saving grace was that he didn't have to watch his parents die. So what she felt right now he had no idea, but he knew one thing; he loved her. He walked up to her and grasped her hands.

"Are you trying to chase me away? Because I will tell you something." His voice rose as he spoke, "You're the one hurting the most right now, telling someone _that_. Don't you ever let someone say that about you again, because living is not a sin! And Raven, I know you're scared, but I love you Raven. And there is no crime in living!"

With that he pulled her up and finally connected their lips, softly at first but after a bit he used his tongue to open her mouth, exploring it, memorizing the way her mouth moved. How she leaned against his body as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

It was perfect. _She_ was perfect. And Crow swore he heard fireworks going off in the background of his mind as little bits of electricity ran through his body. Even his Signer mark lit up, but he paid it no mind as he broke the kiss and hugged her shaking body to his own.

* * *

Raven's mind was going a million miles an hour. She just told him about her parents, about her very sin and he replied with…she blushed as it replayed in her mind over and over again. As he pressed her against his chest she couldn't tell who's heart beat she heard, but that was of little concern to her right now. The only question running through her mind right now was.

'How do I feel about Crow?'

It was true she did feel something different toward the red head than Yusei or Jack, but what did she feel about Crow? It was definitely a stronger emotion, but she couldn't put a name on it.

Crow let go of her and smiled down at her, completely unaware of the internal turmoil she was having,

"You don't have to answer right away! Just remember that ok? Now come on, it's getting late and someone needs to get home." He pulled her up off the bed and flicked her nose before turning and walking out.

She watched him leave her mind still churning with questions, when he was out of sight her knees finally gave out and she slid to the ground her head falling into her hands.

"What's wrong with me? _Why _can't I keep my mouth shut about anything around this guy!" she whispered this, "Mom, Dad, what do I do?"

A memory flashed into her mind then; _she was standing in her old house her mom brushing out her hair after a nice bath. _

"_Raven, please listen to me. I have to tell you this and I want you to remember it when you meet this person." Little Raven had no idea who she might be talking about but listened anyway. _

"_Throughout your life, you will meet that one person who is unlike any other. You can talk to this person for hours and never get bored. You can tell them things and they won't judge you. They will help you up whenever you need it, this person Raven. Is your soul mate, your best friend in the whole wide world." Raven was amazed that such a person could exist, especially for someone like her. Her mother kissed her forehead, _

"_Please Raven, whatever you do, don't let this person go. They will grant you the happiness you deserve."_

The memory ended leaving Raven breathless; she wasn't even sure how old she was when her mother told her that. 'Could she be talking about Crow?' she thought about it, _really _thought about it. It was true she enjoyed talking with Crow, but they never really had a chance to _really_ talk. 'Well unless you count that night in his bed…' she blushed thinking about it.

'And I just told him my biggest secret…and he replied…_that_ way. No judgment or anything, just accepting and…helping me.' It was true Crow fit the criteria her mother had told her, but Raven wished she could put a name on this feeling she had in her chest. It wasn't a bad feeling; she knew that, more like a warm, nervous, happy feeling.

'Maybe I can ask Akiza.' Though the idea of saying it out loud mortified her enough but she was determined to find out what this feeling was and the idea of asking Crow himself mortified her more.

With that decided Raven got up again and walked out into the hall, once she got down into the garage area she noticed how empty it was. The only ones left were Bruno who was sitting at the computer and Crow who was talking to him. The red head was the first to notice her, sending her a bright smile as he walked toward her, wrapping his arm around her waist making her heart jump into overdrive and a blush spread across her cheeks.

"What do you say we get you home now? You're probably tired." Crow smiled down at her his cheeks a light color of red. Raven could only nod as he pulled her toward the Blackbird,

"Yusei and Akiza are walking the twins home. Those two need some serious alone time, that's for sure." He said casually.

"Eh?! Are they…you know…" Crow laughed,

"Well yeah! Couldn't you tell? They practically stare lovey-dovey at each other all the time." Bruno laughed,

"Because you two totally don't!" Raven blushed, Crow just rolled his eyes.

"Don't be jealous Bruno! I'm sure you'll find someone to stare at eventually." The red head replied handing Raven's bags to her and a white helmet with what looked to be a Mohawk on the top and a pair of yellow goggles attached to it.

After helping her on and making sure she had a good grip on her bag they took off, Raven bidding a good night to Bruno. The night air was cold, but she was kept warm by both her jacket and the heat Crow's body was radiating.

She turned her head as they sped down the road and as they passed a streetlamp she noticed two people were standing under it, she gasped as they passed, it was Yusei and Akiza! She tightened her grip around Crow's waist; he laughed having witnessed them in a major lip locking session.

"I told you they could use some alone time!" all Raven could do was blush.

~0~0~0~

Not long after they arrived at Raven's apartment building, he hoped off and helped her too her feet and she handed him back the helmet. She found it hard to look him in the face, luckily he seemed to be having the same trouble. So they just kind of stood awkwardly in silence, Raven finally took a peek and saw him standing there, scratching the back of his head and gasped.

He was wearing the jacket she had given him. She didn't notice earlier but now that she looked she had to admit, the jacket looked amazing on him. Crow glanced down at what she was staring at and blushed,

"Oh yeah, you like? You have a good eye for sizing too. Fits like a glove!" he said flashing her that smile of his.

Raven couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks,

"I-I'm happy you like it…I-it makes me happy to see you wearing it." She couldn't look at him when she said this, instead taking to looking at the ground. His green boots appeared in her vision as his arms snaked their way around her waist.

He lifted her chin with his finger making her look him in the eyes, Crow had the strange look on his face, but it was a look that Raven found so beautiful she could not look away.

The red head's hand slipped behind her head tilting it upwards as he once again connected their lips. Her heart beat stopped and started again beating faster than ever, and her face blushing redder.

The kiss wasn't as intense as the one before, it was softer, almost sweeter than the one before. When he broke away she was left breathless, he smiled and rubbed his thumb softly across her cheek, taking something wet with it.

'I'm…crying?' as the realization hit more tears made their way down her face,

"C-Crow…I don't…I can't…" she couldn't find a way to put into words what she was feeling. Crow just smiled and wiped away the tears before kissing her forehead.

"I told you; you don't have to reply right now. So just relax and take your time, I can be patient. Now hurry and get inside before you freeze!" he hugged her tightly before pushing her toward the door.

Raven just stared at him for a bit, before nodding.

"G-Goodnight Crow." Then walking inside and climbing the stairs to her apartment. 'I'm going to have a lot of thinking to do now…' she thought as she shoved her key into the door and entered.

* * *

_**Well there we have it, I was really unsure for a long time how they would make up but then i thought; "Oh! What better way to break the ice then to get them a gift?" Anyways, please Read and Review with what you liked, didn't like and some helpful comments or even any thoughts you may be having! **_

_**Till next time then! :3**_


	11. Surprise Flashback

_**I've really got nothing much to say here so; here's a shout out to all the wonderful people who reviewed my story! SamSam92, Magdalene Thorne, and FiringShootingStar! Thank you all for those amazing messages they made me extremely happy! :D**_

_**Disclaimer: Plot/OC = Mine Yugioh 5Ds = Really not mine**_

* * *

Raven lay on her counter top, just staring at the ceiling fan. Yes, the _counter top_.

Just watching the ceiling fan go round and round as some band called, Sixx A.M. played over and over on a little machine that Ms. Carrie had given her.

The sound was intense and kept her thoughts from going wildly out of control, she was no closer to figuring out what she felt for Crow then she was before. Before, being _three_ _days ago_, not one word, nothing, nada, zip.

She sighed for the millionth time that day; she couldn't even get the energy now to go change into different clothes. In fact, she hadn't even left her house for a while, the one time she did she noticed a black van following her. Figuring it was those people from Pandora she quickly lost them down an alley, from which she herself got lost for about an hour before finally making it back to her apartment.

It happened twice before she finally just stopped leaving all together.

Another thing that concerned her was something she had read in the newspaper; _Satellite flu outbreak increases!_ According to the report the number of people who got this sickness increased three times! They did however mention that the cure they had anonymously received was working well for some, but just wasn't taking for others. Luckily with the medical advances here they were able to keep the disease from progressing into the fatal numbers, but it still concerned her. Especially since the spread could be as simple as a touch and the other person could be infected.

Raven tried to think of something else that she could do or what could possibly cause an outbreak like this, but found nothing. There wasn't really a preventative measure to keep from getting sick so you were just kind of walking around hoping that you didn't get sick. Not to mention the plant needed for the medicine was very suddenly in short supply, but Raven guessed that would happen if too many people caught it at once.

Ms. Carrie, who had seen Raven's sudden reclusiveness decided to get the dark haired girl more technology items, insisting she needed them. The next thing Raven knew she had what the woman called a, 'T.V.' mounted on the wall of her living room and a small laptop computer sitting on her coffee table.

Personally Raven couldn't stand the T.V. contraption, she found it loud and the things playing on it were annoying and mind numbing. But she couldn't bear to return it as the woman insisted she should keep it for 'lonely nights', whatever that meant. That's what she thought when buying the thing anyway...

Raven sighed again and lifted her legs off the edge of the table; she didn't even have the energy to put on her PJ pants. So she had laid on the table in nothing but a long gray shirt that fell of her shoulder a bit, it was long enough that it covered enough of her lower areas to were she felt comfortable walking around.

As the song ended she heard someone knock at her door, she groaned. 'I get that she is trying to be nice, but this is a little much.' She thought getting up and pressing the button with the two lines on it to stop the music.

Yawning she walked over to the door,

"Ms. Carrie, I appreciate your kindness but I swear I don't…" she opened the door as she spoke but trailed off as she realized that it wasn't in fact the woman from across the hall standing there.

Outside her door stood; Akiza, Luna, and a very well looking Carly, though she was now wearing some strange swirl looking glasses. She blinked unsure what was going on, but stepped aside anyway.

"Please come in." they nodded and stepped inside.

_Now_ Raven felt the need to be embarrassed at her appearance, having not brushed her hair at all that day, she blushed attempting to pull the fabric father down her legs and smooth any fly a ways. Carly squealed and pretty much tackled Raven into a hug,

"Oh my gosh! You are so cute! Here let me take a picture!" and with that a little box in her hand flashed over and over again.

When the girl finally stopped Raven could only see white spots in her vision, rubbing her eyes she spoke to the girls standing in her living room,

"D-Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you all here?" her vision finally cleared and she squeaked at the sight before her.

All three girls were smiling at her, Luna finally spoke up.

"Well we're here to help you get ready." Raven blinked,

"For what? Do I have somewhere I need to be?" When they just laughed as she blushed,

"For your surprise of course!" Akiza said pushing her toward her bathroom.

"Now go take a shower, you look like death warmed up! Then we'll take it from there!" Raven tried to wiggle out of her grasp but it held firm and she could only get in a few stuttering words as she was shoved into her bathroom and the door closed in her face.

Raven sighed, 'Oh well, guess I have no choice.'

~0~0~0~0~

Ten minutes later she stepped out of the room rubbing a towel against her wet hair, she heard giggling coming from her room, following them their she found all three girls digging through her closet, tossing clothes this way and that.

"W-What the heck are you doing?!" they finally noticed her standing there and brought out the dress she had bought with them, it was a black and red pleated dress with a crimson colored shrug jacket that tucked into the top of the dress. They also held a matching red belt and black thigh-highs with matching knee high lace-up boots.

She blushed as she looked at the clothes, they seemed to flashy to wear in daylight then when she purchased them.

"W-What I am supposed to be wearing _that_ too?" They smiled again,

"Just change already so we can do your hair and make-up!" Carly said taking more pictures, but thankfully without the flash.

"Umm…Carly? Why are you only taking pictures of me?" Raven asked lowering the towel from her head, the girl smiled,

"Jack told me to document _everything_! He said, 'I want to remember my little sister's first courting!' but between you and me you're so cute I would have done it anyway!" Carly replied gathering her up in another hug.

Raven was happy to see the once sickly girl so energetic and smiled; Akiza dragged the girl off her and walked out.

"Now put those on and come out and show us!" she said as all three left her alone in her room. Raven sighed, and resigned herself to some serious embarrassment.

As soon as she had gotten into the dress and was pulling on her boots she could feel herself blushing. The dress stopped mid-thigh and she wasn't used to wearing something so short. She stood up to make sure she could walk in the death trap boots and was glad that although they had a heel it only made her a little taller.

Although the neckline dipped a bit lower than she was used too she felt she didn't look too bad. Today was a day of sighs as she let out another long one before stepping out into the hall where the girls were waiting, Carly started snapping pictures the minute she did and Akiza and Luna looked over her outfit.

They looked from her to each other before nodding their approval, Luna took her hand and led her too the living room where she had to sit on the couch as they began brushing her hair and putting some strange liquid on her face, it looked like skin in a bottle to Raven but she didn't say anything.

Another 10 minutes or so they finally backed off and handed her a hand mirror with swirling patterns on the back Ms. Carrie had given her, nothing looked really different to her than before, except maybe the color of her eyes stood out more and her hair was up in a pony tail and came down onto her back in waves instead of it's usually straight appearance.

She liked how she looked right now, which was unusual since she was used to her looking completely average. But at this moment as she stared at herself in the little mirror she felt she looked far from that.

"You have so much natural beauty we really didn't have much to do, though we did have to use some concealer to cover up those bruises." Luna said happily, Carly jumped around the room taking picture after picture.

Akiza walked back into the room with her scarf and a pair of orange gloves she had gotten to match along with the black pouch she held her deck in, Raven stood and took the items.

"_Now _will you tell me what's going on?" Akiza just laughed again.

"You'll find out when we get there, now lets go!" she said pushing her out the door, once they were walking down the street Raven decided to ask the question that had been plaguing her mind for the past few days, but it still didn't stop the blush from creeping up on her cheeks.

"So…umm…Akiza, can I ask you something?" Akiza looked thoughtfully at her and nodded,

"Well umm…H-How can you t-tell when you _like_ someone?" she thought about it,

"You mean in like the friend sense?" Luna asked.

Raven shook her head, "I-I mean beyond friendship…how do you tell if the other person is beyond _that_?" she made two circles with her hands in an attempt to get them to understand.

Akiza stopped while she thought about it, Carly responded first;

"Well, with me and Jack I know he is beyond that because of how special he makes me feel. Like I'm the only person in the world and life without me would be impossible for both of us. He makes me feel nervous and happy all at the same time." She smiled as she said this.

Raven smiled, 'that sounds…really nice actually.' Akiza spoke up next,

"You can just feel it when you're around this person, like they are the most important thing in your life and nothing will change that. Not matter what they say, do, or how they act. It's like they are someone made just for you, and you alone."

Raven thought about it,

"Someone…just for me?" the title seemed to fit the red haired man, she did feel like he was someone especially important to her. And the idea of being without him terrified her more than anything. So maybe she did…_like_ Crow that way?

"I feel…happy, and nervous and even a little scared around him sometimes…but there will be times when the feeling inside of me is too much for me to bear. But then…I see his face and my heart feels like its swelling and I get the happy-nervous feeling all over again." Raven explained looking at the ground.

Luna smiled,

"You must be in love then! Oh my gosh, how lucky!" Raven blushed embarrassed she had said so much and looked away.

"But I'm always scared, that he will change his mind. That he will find out something about me and it will mess everything up, if that were…to happen…" Tears filled her eyes at the thought but she tried to hold them back.

The girls around her wrapped their arms around her, Raven's eyes widened.

"That won't ever happen! I promise! And if _he_, is the he I think you're talking about then rest assured that it won't!" Akiza said smiling.

"Yeah, and don't forget Jack! You're like his pseudo sister now; he will beat up anyone that even gives you a paper cut!" Carly said.

"And don't forget me and Leo! We may not have known you long Raven, but you're our friend and all we want is to see you happy." Luna finished, smiling widely.

Raven felt a bit dizzy from all the emotions but at least things had been made somewhat more clear to her, and she hoped that wherever they were going that she would see Crow. She wanted to tell him this, no_._

She _needed_ to tell him this.

"Alright, no more talking! Let's go!" Carly said pushing them down the street laughing.

~0~0~0~

The sun was setting behind them making the temperature drop, so every time they breathed out she could see their breath in puffs of smoke. But it wasn't this that caught her attention; it was the building they were walking toward.

It was a school-like building with a large clock on the top and a sign that read, "Poppo Time" and right next to it was the garage and living space of the very people Raven hadn't heard from in three days.

But at this point she didn't care; she was just excited to finally see them again. Akiza stopped her as she was about to run down the ramp into the building,

"Luna, go see if they're ready." The teal haired girl nodded and ran down the ramp and through the door, Carly followed behind still taking pictures.

"Akiza…what's going on?" she was starting to get really worried, Akiza just smiled.

"Its ok, I told you it's a surprise!" Raven nodded still unsure, but trusted the girl enough to not think the worst.

The door opened again with Leo looking out, he blushed when he saw her.

"You look _hot_ Raven!" he said as he gave her the thumbs up, the statement confused her, 'was being a high temperature a good thing?' Didn't that mean someone was sick? Did she look sick?

"Leo! Stop being such a dummy and making her worry!" Luna said said whacking him on the head,

"They're ready Akiza!" Raven's heart tripped into over drive as the maroon haired woman nodded and lead Raven toward the door. She stopped a few feet away from the door, as thoughts from her past invaded her mind, of being led through a door just like this with only pain and despair waiting on the other side. But right at this moment the unknown of whatever being behind that door scaring her more than anything, Akiza stopped in the doorway and looked at her confused.

"Raven, come on." She must have looked as scared as she felt because she put out her hand.

"Its nothing bad, I promise. Trust me?" Raven's eyes widened at those words, and she remembered where she was. It wasn't an Alturas cleansing ritual, or a surprise beating from neighbors. She was in Neo Domino city, with her friends, people who cared for her.

She nodded and after pushing all those thoughts away took the magenta haired woman's hand and walked inside. She looked hesitantly around and found the only thing even slightly different from her previous visits was there was a table situated in the middle of the room and the smell of many different things being cooked at once.

Bruno was placing plates and utensils onto the table while Jack lounged with Carly on the couch, she saw Yusei standing in the kitchen area chopping something. Leo took her hand now,

"Come on, the foods almost ready! I'm starving!" she smiled and followed along.

Jack glanced at her and she waved back, but his attention soon turned back to Carly as she showed him the pictures she took up until this point. He blushed a lot which made Raven wonder what kind of pictures she took.

Leo left her awkwardly standing near Bruno, he smiled at her.

"I hear you're good with computers, is that true?" he said smiling, she blushed and nodded. He smiled bigger and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, leading her over to the computer.

"I have this brand new program I'm working on and I would love for you to take a look at it and tell me what you think!" he started walking over to the computer when a wooden spoon flew through the air, hitting him on the head.

She turned and saw Crow standing by the stairs wearing a yellow apron over his usual clothes, and a sour look on his face.

"Hands off Bruno, you promised no working tonight!" Bruno laughed and stepped away his hands in the air.

Raven giggled at Bruno and looked at the red head; he was staring at her wide-eyed with a smile on his lips. She blushed and started playing the gloves in her hand unsure what she should do now.

Bruno laughed, and pushed her lightly forward.

"Why don't you go help Crow? I wouldn't want him to be too overwhelmed!" Raven blushed and looked at Crow who was nodding his head, she walked over to him and after putting her scarf and gloves by the stairs she joined him at the stove.

"Everything is basically done, but some things still need to simmer a bit." Crow said stirring something,

"So umm…what should I do?" she asked still staring at her hands. Crow laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him.

"Well…we could do _this._" He said as he kissed her lips softly at first as he slid his hand into her hair and slipping his tongue past her lips. Raven could feel her heart beating a million times a minute as she squeezed her eyes shut.

It had only been three days but she had to admit, 'I missed this feeling and it's even better now that I know how I feel…' she moaned lowly as a flash suddenly appeared next to her, she broke away to see Carly standing there with her camera and a giant blush on her face accompanied by a smile.

"Oh don't stop on my account!" the girl said putting her camera up again, the white clothed blonde came up behind her wrapping one arm around her waist and another taking the camera from her grasp.

"No smooching over the food!" he said staring daggers at Crow, Raven blushed a bright red at not only being caught but being photographed. The red head just snuggled closer to her and pressed his lips against her neck,

"Don't be so serious Jack, it's not like I'm sticking her…_yet_." He added at the end with a devilish grin.

Raven didn't even have time to contemplate what that could mean before Jack separated them and stood in front of her grabbing the collar of the smaller male.

"I forbid it! There will be no such vulgarness here!"

Raven was confused but she could also see fighting in front of a burning stove was more than a bad idea.

"U-Umm…guys?" they didn't seem to notice her as they began arguing about whatever the 'sticking' was and where it could be done.

She looked to Carly who was just taking random pictures of them and everyone else, though nobody seemed to notice just how close they were getting to the fire. She considered using her powers to shut off the stove, but her emotional state would probably prevent it and more importantly; she didn't know how to do that.

So she tried the next best thing; moving them manually. She stood between the two, blocking the stove and attempted to push them sideways, she noticed too late Crow's hand swinging out toward the blonde, pushing her backwards instead.

Her body hit the stove and she bit back a scream as her left hand landed against a hot pot, _this_ was the thing that got their attention as her knees gave out and she landed on the floor, pain shooting from her hand up her arm.

Things suddenly slowed down, the scene around her changing to a familiar scene; the room was dark, yet she could see many people standing around her each one holding a different weapon, one even holding a lit candle. Her heart beat faster and faster and her breath seemed harder to come by as she stared upwards too petrified to even scream, even as tears made their way down her cheeks.

Only when one of them pushed past the others and grabbed her shoulders did she finally find her voice and scream.

* * *

Crow wiggled out of Jack's hold as Raven hit the ground, he had seen her hand hit the pot and knew it was because of him. Jack noticed as well as Yusei who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion.

He watched as she sat on the ground, holding her hand against her chest the only thing that caught him was the fact that she wasn't even moving. Jack began yelling at him about how this was all his fault, but the red head ignored him as the girl looked up, and his blood seemed to run cold.

Though she was looking at them, Crow knew she wasn't. Her eyes were shadowed and distant, but that wasn't what struck him; she held a petrified look on her face. The look sent chills down the red head's spine freezing him in place, Jack was not so lucky as he pushed past him and grasped her shoulders.

"Hey! Are you alright?" When he did this, she let out a piercing scream and seemed to fold into herself, letting out little whimpers.

"Bruno, take everyone outside." Yusei spoke calmly quickly gauging the situation. Jack dropped his hands his eyes wide with shock, he looked at the two remaining people as the others quickly left the room.

Crow wasn't sure what to do, even as Yusei quickly reached over them and shut off the stove. He narrowed his eyes as she whispered something,

"Guys, shut up. Listen!" It immediately went silent as they listened to her whisper something again and again.

"S'il vous plaît...Ne me blesse pas…"Though he didn't know what the heck she just said it concerned him that her breathing was coming in short gasps, he kneeled next to Jack and patted his shoulder. When the blonde looked at him, his purple eyes were laced with concern. Crow just smiled, he knew from experience what was going on.

"Raven…" He said softly, "You're having a flashback; I know it feels real but it's not. You're safe with us, now I need you to take some slow breaths ok?" It seemed to work as her breathing started to come easier,

"I need you too look up for me, can you do that?"

After a second Crow thought she didn't hear him but slowly, so slowly her body straightened up, her pale blue eyes wide, but no longer had that far away look. Gently he placed his hand on her cheek, Jack grabbed her un-burned hand in his and Yusei kneeled down gently rubbing her back.

Raven sighed and leaned into Crows hand, closing her eyes in contentment.

"S-Sorry…I-I will be ok…" she whispered softly. Crow smiled; amazed at her ability to pretend she was strong even now.

"Come on, lets get you somewhere more comfortable." He said as he tucked his arm under her legs, lifting her up and carrying her over to the couch.

Yusei came with a bag of ice and placed it over her head, Raven sighed then.

"Oh gosh…that really wasn't pleasant…" she looked at them through half lidded eyes, "W-Well…are you going to ask?" she said calmly, but Crow could tell she was blushing. Jack bit the bullet,

"What the duce was that about?!" he was standing behind the couch his arms crossed.

Crow glared at the blonde, but he ignored him, Raven just sighed and waved her hand around.

"You remember where I'm from right?" she didn't wait to hear a response as she shuffled to get her arm out of her jacket.

"L-Long story short…they basically beat me within an inch of my life everyday for a _really_ long time because I'm a...now what did you call it? 'Psychic Duelist'? Anyway; b-before I left they gave me this as a reminder of what a sinful creature I am." And with that she let the fabric fall off her shoulder revealing the mark that was burned into her skin.

She heard Jack growl and she covered it again, to ease the pain forming in her chest.

"It only got worse when my parents died 3 years ago…S-So there you have it...my life in a nut shell." She couldn't look at any of them, but felt Crow grasp her hand; it gave her the courage to look up again.

Yusei put a hand on her head, rubbing it softly.

"Well you won't have to worry about that happening here, of that you can be sure." She stared up at the dark haired male; Jack walked over and stood by the couch his arms still crossed.

"That's right! We're your friends now! That' means we look out for each other."

Raven held back tears of happiness as her heart beat increased again, she smiled widely at them.

"Thank you…I'm so happy to have met all of you!"

* * *

_**And there you have it! I had to do lots of research on flashbacks and how they affected the person getting them, so I do hope this was accurate and that it doesn't offend anyone, I'm simply trying to write a good story for all of my amazing readers. Anyway! Please Review with anything you'd like! All your reviews always make me insanely happy and help me get these chapters out every week! **_

_**Till next time! :3 **_


	12. First Date Disaster?

_**Ahh the life of an adult! I've been working so much this week I haven't been able to update till now, anyways! I would like to thank my ever so lovely reviewers; FiringShootingStar, Deseya, Magdalene Thorne and my ever so mysterious Anon reviewer! I'm happy you all like this story so much! Now on with the story!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh 5Ds, just the plot of this story and my own OCs.**_

* * *

A little while later after doing some damage control, wrapping up her luckily lightly burned hand and consoling the crying twins, though Leo did pretend he wasn't, they finally ate the dinner Crow had been preparing and now all of them sat around the table holding various conversations.

Raven's head still kind of hurt but she managed to keep up with all of Leo's chatter about his duel monsters and how cool they were, sort of. 'I wonder if his cards being a certain temperature is a sort of slang.' She thought as Luna managed to stop the boy from talking her ear off anymore.

Luna looked at her concerned,

"Are you sure you're alright?" Raven laughed, someone had been asking her that every 5 minutes since they sat down and she just found it funny. Not to mention Jack, Crow and Yusei kept glancing at her like she might lose it again any second.

"Oh yes, the language here is just very hard to understand sometimes."

Bruno spoke up now,

"How so?" she had to think about it for a second,

"Well, first there's what Leo just said about his deck being 'cool', where I came from when we say that we aren't referring to something as being great in nature, more like just the weather."

"Yeah, you were speaking a different language earlier. Which one was it?" Yusei asked, Raven blushed,

"I-It's French. That's the main language used there, but my parent's also taught me English, Italian, and Chinese."

He nodded his head, Raven hadn't known him long so she couldn't tell what the man was thinking as he didn't' talk much. Then she remembered something,

"Oh! There is one word that I can't seem to figure out! It was what Crow said earlier…about 'sticking'?" She noticed all the older ones blush,

"Honestly if he means to hit me with a stick that doesn't sound too pleasant…" she said completely oblivious.

Crow put his hand over her mouth, and whispered in her ear;

"I will tell you later!" she nodded and decided to ask something that had also been plaguing her mind.

"So umm…If you all don't mind…which one of you are Signers?" They all went kind of quiet then.

"H-How did you know we were?" Luna asked,

"Well, I saw a strange red mark on Crow's arm the night I spent here and as I was doing some research at the library ahh...now what was it called again…"

"She found it on Wikipedia! Not like its some big secret or anything!" Jack said holding Carly's hand as she once again was taking random pictures.

"Yes! That's what it was called! But…you don't have to tell me if you don't want too that is…"

She twiddled her thumbs as Crow took her hand in his and smiled at her,

"Jack's right, it's not a big secret so I see no reason not to let her know." They all seemed to agree which made her really happy.

After which Crow pointed out everyone who was of Signer status, though she was really surprised that Leo wasn't also one. Though she had a feeling it might someday change, they each showed off their individual marks and she was amazed at how beautiful they were.

As Raven gazed at Crow's mark he smiled,

"Anymore questions Ms. Curious?" he joked, she blushed unsure how to ask this,

"Well…there is one…but it might be a little dumb…" The red head laughed again,

"Nothing you could say would be dumb, now ask."

"Well…when I was here that night, I had a very strange dream…about a little girl and the Crimson Dragon…It asked her something about a wish and then it was like the dragon became one with the girl…So I went to the library and researched the dragon itself. On the page it said something about a…portal for the Crimson dragon?" She felt Crow stiffen.

"A-And with recent event's and this Pandora people I keep meeting, I was wondering if any of you had heard of it? According to the page it was supposed to be a person and for some reason these Pandora people think it's me…" she said trailing off at the end.

"I remember _them_! I dueled one of them when I picked her up a few days ago! Something strange happened when we dueled though…"Jack said, from what she could remember nothing strange happened unless you count being forced to ride side saddle on his duel runner. But that was more scary than strange.

"What do you mean Jack?" Akiza asked,

"When I summoned my Red Dragon Archfiend your eyes changed to a strange color and you kept staring at it! It was like you were possessed or something!" he said looking at Raven.

Raven narrowed her eyes as she thought back; she couldn't even remember seeing the dragon until the it was attacking the other duelist, although she did remember feeling like the area between her shoulders was on fire.

She remembered feeling the same thing when she and Crow kissed a few days ago too, though it made her blush to remember it. 'But there's no way right? I mean in my dream the little girl was strapped to a table with a scientist! I've never even seen that place before…'But even she knew that was a lie as she felt the familiarity of the room in the dream, and even the fear of the scientist.

Raven had to admit, it was all _strangely_ familiar.

She shook her thoughts as Crow began speaking again,

"Well, it won't do us any good to worry about who it might or might not be. For now we will see what we can dig up on these Pandora people and the Portal." Raven nodded, Crow stood up suddenly dragging her with him to his runner.

"Whoa! Crow where are we going?" the red head stopped and pulled her close to him, kissing her lips lightly. She blushed as Leo laughed in the background,

"_We_, are going on a date!" he replied with a smile as he put on the jacket she bought him and handing her his extra helmet and putting his own on.

"Ehh? W-We a-are?" Raven didn't even have time to process it as he picked her up and placed her on his runner before jumping on and waving goodbye to the others and taking off out of the garage. She heard Jack yell something but it was cut off by her squeaking, and the red head laughing.

She wrapped her arms around his waist and decided to wait and see what was going to happen next, and if she knew Crow. It could be _anything._

~0~0~0~0~

It wasn't until they stopped that Raven could feel her hands freezing as she had forgotten both her scarf and her gloves. Crow hopped off the runner and held out his hand for her, Raven looked at the building they were currently parked in front of.

It was large and white with a window-dome, there were some words on it as well but it was too dark for her to see what it said. Crow wrapped his arm around her waist leading her into the building. As they walked through the doors Raven could have sworn she smelled something…damp?

The inside was also rather dark, she could barely she anything in front of her. As they walked however little lights turned on in the ceiling, and she noticed the floor was made of a strange stone, one that seemed to cover the entire room.

She looked to Crow as they came up on another set of doors and stopped, he smiled down at her,

"Do you trust me?" she nodded,

"Close your eyes then,." She stared into his eyes for a second, not really understanding. He laughed and kissed her lips,

"It's a surprise, now close your eyes you silly girl." He put his hand over her eyes, so Raven closed them. She heard the door open and was pulled through, walking through she smelled the damp smell a lot stronger now. But there was more too it, the sound of running water was everywhere. Crow's voice right next to her ear made her blush,

"Alright, now open your eyes." He sounded excited, which made her excited in turn. She opened her eyes and gasped, they were standing in dark room, lit only by the light of small tube like tanks that held fish.

Raven was so surprised; she didn't even know there could be this many fish. One held bright red fish that looked like something you'd find in a fantasy book; another held thousands of little flat fish that shone like silver, she smiled at Crow as he pulled her towards a tank that held something looking like a lantern with little tentacles.

"Oh my gosh! I've never seen anything like this place! What is it?" she asked touching the outside of the tank.

"It's an aquarium, they basically take a bunch of fish they don't want to go extinct and put them here so they can live and be safe. Do you like it?" he said rather sheepishly. She turned a smile still on her face and hugged him tightly,

"this place is amazing! Is there more?" Crow laughed and held her hand in his as they started walking, everywhere he took her was a new fish, and some strangely shaped others bigger than she could imagine a fish to get.

There was no one else in the building so whenever Raven saw something new or cool looking she would make a surprised sound that would echo throughout the place. Eventually they came to a long tube like hallway with the water and fish swimming all around it. Raven was a little scared, but Crow just smiled and lead the way.

There were benches in the tube-hall, so he lead her to one of them and sat down. She looked at him still smiling,

"Crow this place is amazing, thank you so much for taking me here." He blushed,

"I'm glad you like it. But there's something I want to talk to you about…" he trailed off still blushing.

"Oh…" she looked down; it sounded like he wanted to take back what he said before, about loving her. He used his hand to tip her head back up and kissed her,

"It's nothing bad! I just want to talk about me a little bit, like where I come from and all that. Ya know, since I know all about where you come from."

'That's right, I don't know much about him other than what he's told me so far.' She nodded her head,

"I wish to know everything I can about you Crow! Please tell me." She grasped his hand in both of hers and listened carefully as he began.

~0~0~0~0~

"And yeah, that's pretty much it…" Raven stared at him for a second before tackling him into a hug. It took all her effort not to cry at some parts, both from happiness and sadness. The red head continued to amaze her all the time with his strength and courage and now was no different.

He seemed surprised at first, "R-Raven?" she just hugged him tighter,

"Y-you're so amazing! I wish I could be as strong as you…" Crow just chuckled and pulled her back,

"Silly girl! You are strong already, though we both struggled in different ways; we're both strong _because_ we survived our hells."

Raven stared at him more amazed than ever, she squeaked as she was suddenly pulled into the red head's lap. Crow just laughed as he moved forward to kiss her, but she blushed and turned her head away.

Crow pouted, "Come on, don't get shy on me now. I just want to kiss my girlfriend." He said with the smile that made her heart skip a beat.

"G-Girlfriend?" she stuttered, he nodded as he kissed her neck.

"Yep, cuz even though you don't say it, I know you like me the way I like you."

She blushed as her heart beat increased again, but she still couldn't turn her head. She squeaked again as he suddenly bit her neck lightly sending chills down her spine, only then did she turn to stare at him. The red head laughed as he leaned in to capture her lips.

He held her back tightly to keep her from falling as she sat with her legs on the outside of his and he pushed her back farther, his strength would have amazed her again but she would more interested in the fact that he had shoved his tongue into her own mouth and the feeling it brought about as he wrapped and twisted it around her own.

Just as Raven was about to run out of air a large thud echoed throughout the room, shocking her so much that she nearly fell out of his embrace. The room they were in, along with every room around them was completely black except for some small lights inside the tanks but it provided no light for the human inhabitants.

"What the hel-heck?!" he corrected himself, she vaguely wondered what he was actually going to say, but was more concerned with the fear growing inside her, Crow rubbed circles on her back as she bunched his shirt up in her fists.

"I guess the power went out or something." He didn't sound convinced though as he moved her so she sat next to him again, she saw the outline of him stand up and quickly reached out to grab him.

She felt him place his hands on her shoulders,

"Don't worry, I'm just gonna see what's going on with the power. Just stay here ok? You can still see the fish, and maybe even a shark." His tone was light but she could tell he knew something was right.

A voice inside her said; _'Don't split up'_ but before she could even think to voice this Crow's footsteps were already heard walking away from her and soon out of range. She sighed,

"This is such a bad idea." She said to no one as she looked at the water in front of her, seeing a large group of silver fish swim by.

They soon disappeared into the darkness as a large strangely shaped fish took its place; this interested her as she got up and walked closer to the glass on the other side of the tube-hall.

It was swimming like a snake, but had the shape of a T. She was fascinated by this creature, though the darkness and it's slow swimming made it hard to really get a good look, she was shook from her staring as Crow's yelling out reached her ears.

When she turned she noticed a tall black figure standing there, her heart lurched as this person roughly grabbed hold of her shoulders and held her tightly.

"No! L-Let me go!" she yelled, but the man tied her arms behind her back and a cloth over her mouth.

"Damn, so noisy. Don't worry about your little boyfriend, the boss just wants' to talk with you." He said gruffly as he began dragging her away, she struggled with everything she had, but it did little good. 'Boss? Who are these people? Where is Crow?' she thought trying desperately to use her powers, but to no avail.

After a bit she heard a metal door open and she was shoved inside, landing hard on the floor. She winced as her body landed hard against the carpet floor, looking around she saw this room was a bit more lit with small lights on the ceiling and floor. The room was extremely large with a glass wall on the far side, and what appeared to be a person standing in front of the glass.

Their back was too her, but she could see they had short white hair and a long white coat with black slacks. The person turned and her heart stopped. Deep black eyes only hidden behind rectangle shaped glasses and a smile that made the air around them drop in temperature.

'T-That's the man from my dream!' she thought as he walked closer to her, his shoes clicking against the floor making her heart pound harder and harder the closer he got. By the time he was at least a foot away her breathing was so unstable her sight had blotches, and tears were running down her face as she stared up at the white haired man. She couldn't look away, as if she was being drawn into those deep dark eyes.

Raven's heart nearly stopped in her chest when he kneeled down and grabbed hold of her hair, pulling her up so that she was at eye level with him, as she looked directly into those eyes more tears ran down her face. The man just smiled,

"It's nice to see you again Portal, or should I call you Raven now?"

She mentally recoiled as her name rolled off his tongue; she cringed as he stood up again still holding her up by her black locks. Before she even had time to react, he dropped his grip and kicked her hard in the gut sending her body flying into the wall behind her and landing on the ground in a heap.

Raven felt as if she couldn't breathe anymore, like her body wouldn't accept the air she was attempting to get into it, she was so preoccupied with this that she saw too late the foot that was coming toward her again until pain exploded in her and a cracking noise filled the air. The white haired man laughed,

"Well, looks like I broke some ribs. _Oh well!_" he said kicking her hard as she coughed up blood. She laid there hacking up blood when he finally stopped; the gag had fallen off sometime when he was beating her,

"W-Why?" she barely got that word out as another wave of pain came from her stomach. He smiled as he leaned down grasping her chin in his iron grip,

"_Why_ you ask? Because you are nothing more than a puppet, and no matter where you run I will always pull your strings." Her eyes widened,

"W-what do you mean?" he laughed,

"Don't tell me you've forgotten dear Raven! Sixteen years ago I created you to be the perfect host for the Crimson Dragon!" Raven's heart did stop this time, 'I-It can't be…'

"And you didn't fail me, now you alone play host to its great power. Power I will use to bring Neo Domino city to its knees! And thanks to the plague I spread it won't be long now till the Dragon awakens." Raven shook her head, more tears running down her cheeks.

"I-I stopped it! There's a cure and I already gave it to the city." She said her heart beating rapidly in her chest. The white haired man shook his head,

"You're little cure will do no good. You see, this plague is stronger than your average germ. And soon the first ones will die, and I'm the only one with the actual cure. So I'm giving you a choice my creation; give me what I want, or watch as the bodies begin to stack up." Raven couldn't breathe; this was all too much to process at once.

Before she could reply, the man that had grabbed her before flew through the door and landed on the ground unconscious. She heard a popping noise as someone walked through the open door, Raven couldn't see as the white haired man stood in her path

"Well, looks like your knight in shinning armor has come. Too bad, and we were getting so close too." He stood up, dropping her face first onto the ground and began to clean his glasses.

"Raven! Who the hell are you? And what did you do to her?!" 'C-Crow?' she knew it was him, even though she couldn't see through her blurring vision.

* * *

The white haired man looked down at the girl behind him, Crow wasn't sure who he was but seeing as he was the only person in the room he figured that this guy had caused Raven's injuries. Crow clenched his fists as he spoke again;

"I was just getting reacquainted with my pet here. Though it seems we are out of time for today."

The red head growled and stepped toward the strange man, intent on punching his lights out for calling her a 'pet'.

"Who the hell are you?" he said nearly yelling, the man sighed and pushed up his glasses.

"You may call me Professor Wulf, or Doctor. Whichever you prefer." He deadpanned.

"Are you with those Pandora people who've been after her?" Wulf chuckled,

"With them? I own them! Just like this little gem right here." He said tapping Raven's cheek with his shoe.

It took all of Crow's will power not to knock him into next week as he looked into Raven's eyes, so he held his ground.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must be taking my leave now. " He continued passed the red head and stopped just before the door.

"Let me warn you boy," his voice dropped menacingly, "she is mine, and I don't like people messing with what's mine." And with that he walked out, leaving the unconscious man with the two teens.

Crow glared at the doorway before running over too the barely conscious girl, he carefully untied her arms and removed the gag around her neck before checking her over. She winced as he ran his hand over her side,

"Damn that bastard…" he hissed, tears rolled down her cheeks and he carefully wiped them away.

"Just bare with it a little longer, I called Jack and Yusei, and I'm sure they will be here soon." He said trying to be reassuring, but she just shook her head.

"I-I'm sorry, I know this was supposed to be special but now it's ruined." The red head's eyes widened and he smiled.

"Are you kidding? What's a first date without a little trouble?" She smiled slightly,

"I hardly think this…counts as a little." She said taking in a painful breath, she was still trembling but he was happy to see the frightened look leave her eyes.

"Raven, What did that guy, Wulf or whatever, say too you?" She looked away and didn't say anything.

"Raven I promise I will protect you, but I can't help you if I don't know what's going on." She frowned, and slowly pushed herself off the ground. Crow rushed to help her as she winced, he grabbed her shoulders and leaned her against a nearby wall.

Raven sighed,

"I just don't want you too hate me…" Crow smiled and kissed her forehead,

"That would never happen." She stared at him, and the red head felt she was analyzing his words. After what felt like an eternity of just staring at one another she sighed and began from the beginning.

* * *

As Raven fished she unclenched her fists, leaving crescent shaped indents in her palms. But she wasn't concerned about that, more so about the look Crow was giving. She couldn't see his eyes but she could tell by the set of his jaw that he was thinking, hard.

A thought occurred to her then, what if telling him all of that proved how much of a nut job she was? After all, who in their right mind would want to be around someone like her; she couldn't walk in large crowds without having a mini panic attack and she most certainly couldn't love anyone.

Because, how do you love someone when the only bit you've received was probably faked? 'If my real father is Wulf then…were those two just using me also?' her heart throbbed painfully at that thought, she stood up with the help of the wall. The red head didn't even seem to register the movement.

She wrapped her around herself to hold the broken pieces together, she walked a couple steps before she had to stop, the movement was difficult and she could feel the broken ribs now, though she hoped for her own sake that they were just cracked. Her breathing got heavy as she kept moving forward,

"Sorry…I shouldn't bring you into this…it's really not…"Raven huffed as she said this, her vision going fuzzy, eventually the world seemed to tilt and her legs came out from under her.

She squeezed her eyes shut expecting to feel the ground, instead warmth embraced her, there was a chuckling above her,

"Idiot, I said I'd help you and I will." Raven opened her eyes as Crow moved his hands under her knees, picking her up bridal style. "I'm sure Jack and Yusei will feel the same way."

She stared up at his face, that smile that made her heart do funny things plastered on his face. Like clock work fast footsteps were heard coming down the hall, the next second a tall dark skinned man with an scar on the left side of his face, this however wasn't what scared her most.

"Nobody move! This is Sector Security!" His booming voice was what sent Raven clinging tightly and hiding her face into the red head's chest.

"Yo Trudge! Bout time you got here!" Crow said light heartedly, "You get caught up with another kitty in a tree or helping an old lady cross the street?" The taller man stuttered,

"Hey! That's my public duty, and I don't see you getting cookies from those ladies!"

Crow's grip tightened around her, but before he could reply there was an "Oof." She turned to look and standing before them was Jack, she looked down she realized the blonde was quite literally standing on the scarred man.

"Jack!" she said happy to see the blonde, though he didn't even nod in her direction, he walked straight up to the red head glaring daggers the whole time.

Raven thought the blonde was going to tackle Crow with her in his arms, but he stopped close enough to where she felt his stomach touching her elbow. Being sandwiched between them was nerve wracking, made even worse by the tension currently running between the two men.

"Jack I get you're pissed, but we're both fine, just some bumps and bruises." Crow said attempting to calm the taller male; Jack narrowed his eyes and in a flash swung his arm hard beneath her back, hitting Crow square in the stomach. The red head hunched over, his grip slackening to nothing as Jack replaced the red head's arms with his own allowing her to roll into his embrace.

Raven yelped and bit back a cry of pain the sudden shift, as Crow hit the ground clutching his stomach the blonde turned and began walking out. She looked past his shoulder and saw Crow was glaring toward his retreating back; she then looked toward the blonde who was staring resolutely forward.

"Jack…" but he silenced any other words with a stern look, the door closed behind them blocking her view of Crow. Next thing she knew she was placed onto Jack's runner with him sitting in front of her, pinning her into place. She sighed and held onto his waist, not long after that did they arrive back at the garage, she attempted to get off on her own but slipped.

Jack was quick however and scooped her up into his arms again carrying her against his chest, though he was gentle in his actions Raven still had to bite back another yelp as her injury was jostled again, Yusei walked toward them with a confused look,

"Jack, what are you doing? Crow just called and said you stole his date. Care to explain?" Jack seemed to ignore him as he carried her up the stairs and through the door to his room. Only then did he release her.

Right on his bed, this time however she couldn't hide her pain as she screamed and clutched her side. Raven had her eyes closed but she could tell that just enraged him more. Yusei ran into the room,

"Jack! What the hell man? What are you doing?" The blonde just walked out of the room with Yusei following.

Raven decided it would be better if she didn't try to move right now, but she heard shouting from outside the room; well, Jack was doing most of the yelling while Yusei was talking calmly. Raven sighed and slowly sat up, wincing in the process, Jack returned to the room and tossed the shirt and shorts she was wearing the last time she was here,

"Get changed, you're not going anywhere tonight." He said before walking out the door again.

'I suppose he has a point, the way I am right now I won't be able to get home even if I wanted too.' Slowly and carefully she managed to change her clothes before lowering herself back onto the bed. By this time however she heard another more familiar voice join in the yelling game outside the door.

The door knob jiggling made her gasp as she sat listening to the sounds outside,

"Jack seriously! This isn't funny man, let her out! Raven? Are you okay?" after a couple of breaths she managed a weak,

"As good as can be expected..." Before Jack spoke up again.

"She is staying with me for now since you can't seem to keep her from getting hurt." She heard Crow scoff and Yusei sigh,

"Jack why are you acting this way? She isn't a toy; you can't just take her away when you feel like I don't deserve her!" Crow replied banging his fist against the door.

"How I treat her is none of your concern and if I am correct I think I've done just _that_." And with that he opened the door again and walked inside closing it again just before Crow could squeeze inside. She heard him banging on the door a few more times, but Raven was more concerned with the tall blonde standing before her.

"Scoot back, we're going to sleep now." Her heart pounded in her chest and she swallowed hard,

"H-Here?" Jack scoffed and started unzipping his long white jacket and pulling off his boots.

"Of course! Where else would you sleep?" she looked around awkwardly as his earrings hit the desk next.

'I was kind of thinking in my bed…' she thought as he turned and strode toward the bed in nothing but a black muscle shirt and his white pants, she backed up toward the wall as he reached over and shut off the light before laying down next too her.

Raven could feel her heart beating hard and wondered if he could hear it, Jack moved the large comforter over them, forcing her to lie down in front of him. She could hear Crow talking with Yusei outside the door and wondered what to do now, even as the blonde moved one arm under his head and the other around her shoulder.

As the warmth from the blanket and the blonde in front of her eclipsed her, her eyes grew heavy. She heard Jack whisper something;

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." And she fell into the darkness of her mind.

* * *

_***Sigh* So believe it or not I've actually never been to an aquarium so i just had a bunch of pictures to go off of, so I hope I described it pretty well. But over all i'm pretty proud of this chapter, seeing as most of it was written on my phone during lunches and breaks. Anywho! Please Review with any thoughts, opinions, or helpful comments! **_

_**Till next time! :3 **_


	13. Love and drugs

_**Hello all! So so sorry this chapter is late(?) Do I usually update pretty regularly? Hmm well anyway! I would of course like to thank all my lovely amazing reviewers; FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne, Deseya, and Tachi Tsuki un! All your reviews made me extremely happy! Now on with the story!**_

_**Disclaimer: I wish i owned even a fraction of Yugioht 5D's, but i only own the plot and OC's of this story!**_

* * *

"Yusei come on! I can't just leave her in there!" the dark haired boy shook his head,

"Crow it's late, we can deal with this tomorrow. Jack is just showing his big brother tendencies and needs to make sure she's okay for himself. He did the same thing with us when we were younger, don't you remember?" Crow furrowed his brow,

"No, when did this happen?" Yusei put a finger to his mouth and lead the red head down the stairs; Akiza and the others long since gone home for the night. Yusei leaned against the desk as Crow sat on the couch,

"Back when we were with Kalin as the Enforcers, whenever we would come back from a raid if one of us had been hurt Jack would always check on that person while they were sleeping." Crow made a shocked face,

"Isn't that creepy?" Yusei shook his head,

"He would just make sure we were still breathing before he moved on. He's done it ever since we've know each other, the only reason I know this is because I caught him doing it the day I almost fell off that roof." Crow remembered that, he was thankful Kalin was stubborn and didn't let go of Yusei's hand.

"Jack just got freaked out when you called and said she'd been attacked, so right now he needs to reassure himself that she's not gonna die. Crow thought about it for a second and nodded,

"Ok, ok. I get it, but we seriously need to talk about this. That guy who attacked us, the Crimson Dragon, this Portal, and Pandora. It's all centered on her, what if…she _is_ this doorway for the Crimson Dragon? Back when Goodwin was explaining this too you did he say anything about something like this?" Yusei shook his head,

"Maybe Mina knows something about it," he looked at the clock, "But it's late, so I will call her tomorrow and see if she can help." The red head nodded as he ran a hand through his hair,

"Yeah, alright. I'll leave it too you for now. Where is Bruno?"

"He's doing a test run on Raven's runner, he should be back soon." And speaking of the devil, said bluenette appeared through the garage door pushing a large purple and black duel runner, with the head of a dragon over the front wheel and large wings covering both sides and extending a few inches past the back engines in matching colors.

"Hey guys!" Crow stood amazed at how it turned out, he had left everyone else too finish the painting and last adjustments.

"Whoa! That turned out amazing! How did it ride Bruno?" The bluenette smiled and gave him a thumbs up,

"Beautifully!" Crow smiled, 'This will definitely make her happy tomorrow!' Bruno yawned as he used the tarp to cover the runner again,

"We should head to bed now. It's late." Yusei said walking up the stairs.

Crow nodded, walking up the stairs after him but stopping at Jacks door. 'Just a look.' He said as he tried the door and was happy to see it was unlocked, he quietly opened the door a crack and smiled.

Jack lay slightly on his side with Raven curled up into his chest her hands lightly griping his black muscle shirt, the blondes arm draped over her shoulder as they both slowly breathed in and out deep in sleep already.

'Alright Jack. I get it.' He took one last look at Raven's sleeping face before closing the door again and heading into his own room for the night.

* * *

Raven came back into consciousness but didn't open her eyes, she groaned. 'I just wanna sleep more…' she thought as the cold temperature around her finally set into her body, she snuggled closer to the source of heat in front of her. She ran her hands along the broad chest and smiled slightly as she thought it was Crow.

'So warm…' she thought as she slid her hands up to his neck, just wanting to get a good feel of the man in front of her. Raven felt his neck and angular face…'wait…where is his face?' she thought as she realized there was only neck above her fingertips.

She frowned as she moved her hands up more and finally reached the males face, just barely out of her reach. The male groaned and she felt him turn on his back dragging her with him as she was still wrapped tightly in his arms.

As Raven landed on his chest she opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep from them she finally saw the person beneath her, her eyes widened and her heart beat increased. 'J-Jack?!" she remembered too late the events from the night before as she jumped up and kneeled on the bed as pain shot through her body once again.

She bit her lip to contain whatever sound may have emerged from her lips; she saw stars as her eyes opened again, her breathing labored.

Once the pain passed and the stars vanished she took in the blonde before her, breathing slowly her movements not stirring him from his sleep. She blushed and looked away at how much of a creeper she must be watching him sleep like this.

She sighed, 'Now how am I supposed to get out?' looking around she saw the end of the bed wasn't that far from her and it had a small space she could use to slide between the bed and the desk.

Carefully she crawled over to the end of the bed and over the bed frame attempting not too irritate her already sore stomach muscles. She leaned against the desk for a minute, resting before she moved toward the pile of clothes she left and into the hall intending to shower before finding Crow and making sure he was ok, leaving the blonde sleeping soundly.

As she stood against Jack's door and looked at her clothes. Making a face after seeing the dirty state they were in, she decided to head home as soon as possible to treat her broken ribs and get into some cleaner clothes. 'Oh well, this will have to do for now.' As she stepped out of the room she ran into none other than the blue haired man Bruno,

"Oh Raven! You're up! How do you feel?" she knew he didn't intend to scare her, but her heart sped up never the less. She shrugged in response,

"A few broken ribs, nothing life threatening. Sorry for causing trouble." She would have bowed as she said this but the pain in her gut kept her from doing that. Bruno smiled,

"Well that doesn't sound too bad, but you should still go see a doctor to make sure it doesn't get worse." She nodded,

"Are you heading toward the shower?" she nodded again,

"Here, Crow already left for work but I'm sure he won't mind lending you some clothes." Raven made to deny his offer but he was already walking toward the red head's room.

She waited by the door as he went in and after a few minutes returned with a pair of faded black cargo pants similar to those Crow usually wore and a orange sweater.

"Here, Crow doesn't wear these much and the sweater seems to be the smallest thing he owns. I hope this works." He smiled again and walked away.

She smiled at his retreating back and after placing her dirty clothes in Crow's room went to shower.

~0~0~0~0~

After Raven stepped out she felt much better, her side was still bothering her, although not as much as before which gave her hope for just a cracked rib or two, there was a sweet smell coming from downstairs. Going down the stairs took a bit more effort than she thought it would but when she made it down Yusei was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee reading the newspaper while Bruno stood at the stove cooking something. Yusei noticed her and put down the paper,

"Hey! How are you feeling?" she smiled slightly,

"N-No worse for wear. I think I'll survive, may I sit next too you?" he nodded and pulled out the chair for her, she sat down and breathed deeply as the action hurt more than she thought it would.

Yusei stared at her concern in his eyes but she smiled trying to mend his concerns, the bluenette appeared at her side with a plate stacked high with pancakes and placed it in front of her. As she stared at the plate her stomach decided to announce its presence making her blush and the two boys laugh.

"Go ahead and eat up. Jack should be up soon, I think…" Bruno said getting the plates, when he asked her for a drink she tried to stand to get it herself but a pair of large hands pushed her back down again. Craning her head back she saw Jack standing behind her,

"Let the fool do it, you sit and eat." Yusei nodded,

"Believe it or not, Jack's right. Crow left you in our care while he's a work so that means we can't let you do anything that could injure you more." Raven sighed,

"I-I'm ok really, I've had worse." She said smiling but it did little good as Jack sat next too her and started piling the pancakes on her plate before smothering them in the syrup.

"Stuff your face and no more talking." And with that the blonde turned to his own plate and began the process again. Yusei smiled at her,

"You're part of the family now so listening to your brothers comes first." Her eyes widened and she looked toward her lap blinking back tears, she was truly happy. Yusei went back to his newspaper pointing out jobs Jack could try for today and Jack went on too explain how such "Menial jobs were below a man of his stature."

Bruno sat across from her and dug into the pancakes too, and slowly she ate her food enjoying the atmosphere around her.

As she finished and Jack and Yusei left, one to go job hunting (aka drink Blue eyes mountain coffee) and the other to do some repairs and talk to someone named, Mina. Leaving Bruno and Raven alone, though the bluenette was currently on the computer doing some equations for something, it was beyond her area of understanding so she sat on the couch with her legs up too her chest, bored.

It was cloudy outside like it was going too rain, but Raven could feel the chill in the air. 'Maybe that 'snow' that Crow was talking about will make an appearance. I wonder what that looks like.' She couldn't even fathom that so she moved on too something more interesting. Which happened to be at the moment; the tarp covered thing in the garage. She walked over too it and just looked it over, the coolness of the ground making her shiver.

"Are you guys working on something?" Bruno seemed too wrapped up in his own world to hear her, she reached out to take a peek.

The garage door opening behind her made her squeak, pulling her hand just inches from the tarp, she turned just as Crow hopped off his runner tossing his white helmet aside and smiled toward her as his steel colored eyes looked her up and down, making her blush.

Raven tugged on the hem of the orange sweater and looked away from his gaze; the pants were baggy and had to be held up by her belt while the sweater engulfed her shoulders nearly falling off.

"H-Hi Crow…." She didn't notice him coming toward her till he had her wrapped in his arms, one arm around her waist and another in her hair tipping her head back as he connected their lips.

She gasped parting her lips and giving the male entrance into her mouth, his tongue exploring and rubbing against her own. Raven closed her eyes as she tentively rubbed her own against his, a low moan erupted from her throat as this went on making her blush more.

In a flash of boldness she wrapped her arms around his neck as his tongue explored her a bit more before breaking off and pressing his forehead to her own. She blushed an even brighter shade of red as she stared into his eyes.

"_That_ was probably the best hello I've ever gotten." He said burying his face in her neck.

Raven stood there wrapped in the embrace of this man and was happy, for this one moment she allowed herself to smile and hug him back earnestly. And for this moment she completely forgot where she was.

Until a wolf whistle burst their bubble.

Yusei stood at the doorway with Akiza who was blushing; Crow stuck his tongue out at the dark haired man.

"You're just jealous Akiza isn't wearing your clothes." This comment sent Raven into Crow's chest hiding her extreme embarrassment, Crow just laughed.

"Come on! That was supposed to be a compliment!" she smiled even though he couldn't see it.

Crow snapped his fingers and broke their embrace, Raven stood there awkwardly as he walked back too his runner, pulling a large black duffel out of the trunk and something wrapped in colorful paper.

"I stopped by your place and got a bunch of clothes. I wasn't sure what you might need so I just brought some of everything." He said as he placed the bag by the stairs for later storage,

"I-I'm staying here?" she said confused and shivering from the cold traveling up her feet. Yusei spoke up,

"Of course, just until we find out what's going on with this Wulf guy and Pandora." A shiver went up her spine at the mention of those; she wrapped her arm around herself as she looked away. Akiza put a hand on her shoulder, silently comforting. Crow huffed,

"Hey! No making her sad today! Today is a happy day." He said as he handed her the paper thing, her eyes widened as she looked inside; a single purple amaryllis sat inside. Crow winked as he handed it too her,

"It reminded me of you." She blushed but smiled regardless,

"Thank you…you really didn't have too. But I appreciate the gift." She cradled the flower carefully as Crow smiled and scratched the back of his neck; she took a step toward him and leaned her head against his strong chest.

"You're so kind too me." He put an arm around her waist and squeezed her against him, it hurt her for him to do this but right now she didn't care. Sadly Crow didn't see it this way as he immediately held her at arms length pouring out a string of apologies. She smiled and waved him off,

"Raven I'm taking you too see Doc Schmidt. He's a good friend and has agreed to help you out." She furrowed her brows not really liking the idea of being on someone's table again.

"I'm fine really. I don't need to see him; it would just be a waste of time for him."Crow got a strange look in his eyes, like he was sad a look her par-_caretakers, _she corrected herself still unsure of where they stood, usually wore.

"Then just for my peace of mind? Please?" the look only seemed to intensify after that and Raven had to look away as she nodded.

"F-For you…" The red head smiled and kissed her forehead,

"Don't worry I will be there the whole time so you can hold my hand if you get scared." She held the flower close as he entangled their hands together.

Bruno appeared with her boots and jacket and after some adjustments she managed to get both on without incident. And soon after they were off, Raven clinging to Crow's back, heart beating hard in her chest.

~0~0~0~0~

Doctor Schmidt met them at the door and ushered them inside, Raven felt as if she might pass out as he led them down the hall and into a private room across from the one she stood in with the children before. After her and Crow had filed in he gestured toward the examination table in the middle of the room, and Raven thought her heart might beat out of her chest.

Crow seeing her nervousness grasped her hand and tugged her toward the table, helping her up.

"Alright Raven, I need you to lie down and pull up your shirt. Crow you can turn around if you want." She blushed and as the red head turned, his hand still clasped in her own she carefully pulled up the sweater revealing yellowing bruises and various scars along with bright red and dark purple bruises along the left side of her stomach.

Raven was blushing so hard she had to put her arm over her eyes as Doctor Schmidt did his examination, she bit her lip to keep the sounds of pain from her voice as he poked and prodded her with various instruments.

Finally he nodded and began wrapping a thick brown bandage around her stomach and clasping it down. The gray haired man pulled her sweater back down and patted her arm,

"Just as I thought, some bruising on your ribs. It will just heal on its own, but no strenuous activity okay?" he finished with a smile. Crow and Raven both sighed as the red head turned back around smiling,

"That's great!" Doctor Schmidt nodded as he filled a syringe,

"Now I'm just going to give you some light pain medication and some pills to take with you if the pain gets worse." Her eyes widened at the sight of the needle, but Crow's hand on her hip kept her from moving away from it.

"Alright Raven, just one little prick and then you'll be on your way." He said kindly, she looked at the red head who just smiled back. She just sighed and pulled her arm out of the sleeve making sure to keep the mark on her shoulder hidden.

As the Doctor pushed the needle into her arm she flinched accidentally moving the fabric up, she noticed too late as he gasped.

"Oh my…Raven, what is this?" she looked away,

"It's a going away present from the place she used to live in." Crow answered for her, squeezing her hand and wiping a tear that had formed in her eye. Doctor Schmidt put the needle on a tray beside him,

"May I take a closer look?" Raven still couldn't look at him as she shrugged and in an act of boldness she might be embarrassed about later cradled Crow's hand in both of hers.

* * *

Crow was amazed how brave she was being right now, not in just letting the doc see the burns she hid like her life depended on it. But also in how tightly she was holding on too him right now, one hand wrapped tightly around his own as the other moved up his arm.

He kept an eye on the doc's reactions as he leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers to soothe her, he wasn't sure how recent the burns were but he could just by looking at her that it was painful.

"Shhh you're doing great." Raven's face lit up a shade of red as she winced again.

_Finally _he finished and after rubbing some ointment on both her arms did he wrap them in white bandages and stepped back.

"The degrees of the burns are pretty severe, but not impossible to fix." The red head smiled,

"Really?" the doc nodded,

"With today's medical advancements we can reproduce the skin and place it over the burns and if everything goes well, will permanently hide the scars."

The red head was so happy he didn't notice the girl in front of him suddenly sit up or gaze intently at their joined hands. What he did notice however was when she began rubbing her face against the back of his hand, his eyes widened as he looked down.

She looked back up at him with bleary blue eyes and smiled brightly as she raised her hand and put it against his cheek,

"So beautiful…" she sighed and put her head against his chest giggling. He smiled awkwardly as Doc Schmidt laughed,

"Looks like the pain meds have finally kicked in." Crow sighed,

"She's all loopy now!" he laughed as she began tugging on his cheeks and poking the criminal mark on his forehead. Doc laughed again,

"Indeed, she's going to be like this for a while. But she might pass out before then, so I'd suggest getting her home as soon as you can." Crow nodded as he grabbed hold of both of her hands,

"Ya hear that, Raven? We get to go home now." She laughed then got a sad look on her face,

"But…I don't have a home…Do I?" Doc excused himself from the room at this point as Crow smiled,

"Well duh! Your home is with me, Jack, and Yusei!" her eyes widened like she was truly shocked before she smiled so beautifully bright that Crow thought his heart might stop right then and there.

He could feel his face heating up in a blush as she hopped off the table, she wobbled for a second before her legs completely gave out and Crow rushed to catch her, wrapping his arms around her waist to stop her. Raven laughed as he sighed in relief,

"Alright Raven, up you go!" he said as he turned her around so that she faced him and picked her up by the waist and over his shoulder. She let out an "Oof" as he stood up again, amazed at how light she was.

"You need to eat more." He said as they walked out of the room, only to be stopped by a very angry looking Nao.

"Watch it little man, I almost ran you over." He said trying to be funny, the kid didn't laugh.

"What did you do to Onii-chan?" realization hit as he smiled,

"We just ran into a little trouble yesterday. But Doc Schmidt just finished checking her out and she's gonna be all good in no time." Nao didn't seem to buy it as he stared at Raven's back, Crow sighed and walked around the kid so he could see her face.

He heard the girl gasp and he turned his head to see her grasp at his cheeks and smile,

"How cute! Cute Nao." She did this until Nao giggled,

"I will visit soonish…so be good and listen to Marthaaa." She held out the 'A' in the women's name and laughed at how it sounded. Nao giggled again and nodded,

"Then we can duel right?" Raven smiled and patted his head,

"With duel disks and everything." Even Crow had to snort out a laugh at that comment; she really was off her rocker right now.

"Ok Raven lets get you home so you can be crazy there." She laughed and it took all Crow's willpower not to blush as his heart skipped a beat.

~0~0~0~0~

Getting back to Poppo Time was harder than expected, especially since Raven kept trying to touch everything that they passed by. And he remembered it was his turn to do the shopping, which normally would have taken 30 minutes tops, took all day too complete as people kept staring at them and Raven kept falling off his shoulder. It was frustrating, more because she was so cute while she did it.

Crow swung off the Blackbird as laughed as Raven slumped forward onto the seat, she giggled again.

"Raven you silly bird." Bruno chuckled behind him, having come to see hoped up on drugs Raven. Raven pushed herself up again, swaying a bit before noticing Bruno.

"Brunochii!" the bluenette looked toward the red head,

"Is that supposed to be a nickname or something?" Crow sweat dropped and shrugged,

"c'mere, c'mere! I've got something to tell you!" Bruno blinked and walked toward her, Crow smirked as she giggled out a

"Closer." The bluenette came closer as Raven reached out to turn his head so that she could talk into his ear,

"See that guy?" she said pointing to Crow, Bruno nodded. Raven had another fit of giggles as she said,

"I think I'm in love that in that guy." Both boys turned bright red at this,

"Alright I think that's more than enough of that." Crow said stepping toward her and picking her up bridal style, he blushed again as she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled.

"Are you tired Raven?" she shook her head,

"I wanna stay down here until Jack and Yusei get back." Crow blinked confused,

"Why?" She shrugged,

"I need to tell them about the wolf and the dragon…and the sticking! Nobody told me what that is! I should know!" she said getting off topic,

"I already told Yusei, he's looking into it. And maybe now's not the best time to explain that." He said blushing.

Raven blinked, "Oooh…then we should look under that tarp!" she said pointing to it, Crow smiled.

"Not just yet, I want Jack and Yusei to be here when you see what's under there." She sighed,

"But it's for me?" she said getting excited. Crow laughed,

"Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. You'll just have to wait." She pouted and stuck out her tongue; he chuckled and turned toward Bruno.

"So where are Yusei and Jack?"

"Jack said he was going to stay with Carly tonight since he kind of ditched her yesterday and Yusei and Akiza are still at Sector Security headquarters." Crow nodded as he watched Raven's eyes begin to droop, he smirked as he started upstairs.

"Let me know when he gets back, I want to see what he found out." The bluenette nodded as he returned to the computer, probably doing something Crow wouldn't understand even if he asked the boy to draw him a picture. Raven twisted a bit as he walked up the steps and waved big,

"Bye, bye Brunochii!" Crow chuckled at the nickname as Bruno stuttered out a weak goodbye.

Crow set her on the bed and blushed as she lay on her back and arched it upwards to stretch and let out a groan that sent shivers down the red heads spine. He focused on getting her boots off which resulted in her running her fingers through his hair which also didn't help.

He found the shirt she was wearing the night before, but tossed it aside as Jack's cologne permeated from it. He opted for a black shirt with a torn collar he never repaired but kept around for some reason, walking back over to Raven he put the shirt next too her.

"Ok so…You're going to have to do this next part cuz I-"he trailed off as his steel eyes widened, Raven stripped off the sweater leaving her clad in only in a black bra with purple swirling details, he blushed but couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight.

Raven must have noticed the chill in the air as she crossed her arms together squeezing her breasts together in the process. Only after she noticed him staring and began blushing herself did his body finally have the sense to turn around.

Crow swallowed hard as heat pooled inside of him making it very _hard_ right now, he decided to ignore it as he kicked off his boots and vest. He took a peek over his shoulder and Raven was now laying down where he usually slept her face buried in his pillow, she was mumbling something but it was muffled by the pillow.

Crow climbed in next too her and shut off the light, wrapping them both tightly in the blankets. He felt the girl shift and could feel her eyes on him, he swallowed hard and shifted a bit himself as he felt her hand move up his arm, graze over his neck and come to rest on his cheek.

His eyes widened again as her warm lips came into contact with his own before pulling away again, over just as soon as it began. Raven rested her head on his chest as he sat there trying to control his raging thoughts, raging and very _sexual_ thoughts with which his very hard predicament wasn't helping.

'Come on Crow! Think about sad puppies, or Jack clipping his toe nails in the morning! Anything but _that._" He squeezed his eyes shut but still the thoughts kept coming through; he blushed and fidgeted around a bit. Raven curled her legs toward her moving Crow's hand from her waist downward and he blushed as he felt not the pants she had been wearing but bare skin which could only lead the red head to delve deeper into his less than appropriate thoughts.

'Crap.' He untangled himself from the sleeping girl and walked quickly from the room, his face bright red as he slipped into the bathroom, shutting the door with a soft click.

* * *

_**Soooo what did you think of my subtly? I thought it was okay-ish. Please review with any questions, comments or helpful comments! **_

**_Till next time! :3_**


	14. Crimson Memories

Oh my gosh! Hahaha I totally thought I already updated this, this week! XD I'm awful i know! Anyway; I want to thank my amazing reviewers! **Black Dragon 42, Deseya, FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne **for their amazing reviews! I'm glad you all are enjoying my story!

Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh 5Ds this pairing wouldn't be made up.

* * *

"_Raven…." _The girl ignored the voice and tried to slip back into her warm dreamless sleep,

"_Raven…"_ she frowned as the echoing voice called too her again. She blew out a breath and opened her eyes expecting to see the room she remembered falling asleep in, but as her pale blue eyes opened it was not the case. The area she was currently in was white, everywhere she looked was white.

"Hello?" her voice echoed back to her making her shiver in response. A song played somewhere close by, like from a music box, one that was very familiar too her but she couldn't place where she had heard it.

A soft and sweet melody that seemed to flow from somewhere close by, confused Raven stood up and after a few steps fell from the edge of something. She looked around and saw nothing that could have caused that, 'Alright…' still the harmonious sound called too her, something inside of her telling her she needed to find out where the sound came from.

After walking a bit more and feeling like she was walking down stairs her feet touched cold ground, but the feeling vanished as she realized the song was so loud now that she could feel it through her feet. Raven looked around confused,

"_Raven…" _the voice echoed again, but this time it seemed to come from right in front of her.

Raven's back began to burn as the song ended and the area around her changed, more voices reached her ears but this time was accompanied by faces and scenes of blood and pain passing before her eyes.

A scream ripped from her throat.

* * *

Yusei sighed as he left Sector Security headquarters,

"Four hours of searching and still we've got nothing." Akiza yawned and smiled reassuringly,

"Not nothing Yusei, we do know that it _did_ exist." The dark haired boy nodded remembering what the blue haired woman had said.

"Pandora? That's a name I haven't seen for a while." The blue haired women said holding an inquisitive hand to her chin as she leaned back in her chair. They were currently in her office at Sector Security headquarters, Yusei's eyes widened,

"You've heard of it?" she nodded as Akiza smiled, both of them excited to finally get some information.

"What can you tell us about it?" he asked, she thought for a second before beginning.

"First you have to tell me why you want to know." Yusei explained their situation and about Raven, Mina looked concerned as she processed this and finally nodded.

"Alright, basically Pandora was once a division of the city research facilities. They mostly did research regarding psychic duelists, and diseases." The latter sent chills down Yusei's spine, Mina continued.

"This happened about a year or so after the Ener-D reactors blew up, but the lead scientist of Pandora, Doctor Wulf, brought a daring discovery to Director Goodwin. Apparently he had discovered a way to not only harness the power of psychic duelists but a way to create more." Akiza gasped and Yusei clenched his gloved hands together.

"Director Goodwin of course denied his request to mass produce the drug when we found that he was testing on actual people, and eventually shut down the project entirely. After that Doctor Wulf just vanished taking all of his research with him. Sector Security looked for him for months before Goodwin decided it was time to stop." Yusei nodded,

"Did he happen to have a daughter too?" Mina sighed and nodded,

"Yes, but she vanished along with Wulf." Akiza spoke up now,

"And her mother?" Mina shook her head,

"_That_ I'm not sure about, only a select few knew about the details of that case. The rest is sealed in a file in the Sector Security database."

"Can't you access it?" again she shook her head,

"Only the director is able to access it now. Do you think Wulf could be behind the recent string of illnesses?" Yusei sighed,

"Honestly at this point I'm not even sure. Only Wulf knows the real answer and apparently Raven has something to do with it." Mina nodded and stood,

"Then I will try to get access to the file, until then just try and be careful alright?" Yusei nodded and thanked the woman for her time before walking out.

~0~0~0~0~

Yusei was shook from his thought as his signer mark began to glow and burn; he winced and grabbed hold of his arm in an attempt to soothe his arm. Akiza stood next too him staring at her own mark before the world around them swirled and both of them were now standing in a white room.

"What the duce?!" Yusei turned and to his left was Jack the blonde looked at him confused,

"What the duce is going on? How did I get here?" before he could answer though another frightened voice appeared,

"Yusei! You're here too?" they all looked over and saw the twins standing there in their pajamas,

"Freaky…" Crow said looking around confused.

"Why are we all here?" Akiza asked no one in particular, Yusei looked around wondering the same thing. The walls around them began to ripple and move as if they were made of water, a female voice rose around them.

"_The clock will turn back and you'll see many things. But the past memories might not be wonderful; do you still want to go through with it?" _None of them was sure who it was talking too, but he felt as if he some how knew this presence so looking at the others, although unsure, nodded their heads. He looked straight ahead to where he thought the voice was coming from,

"Yes." The wall ahead of them turned dark and memories played out in front of them as if they were watching a movie on an old projector.

"_Rose! Don't die! Get the code team in here!" A pale white woman with long black hair lay on an operating table with tubes and wires running all different directions and a heart monitor beginning to slow in its beeping noise. _

_The woman smiled as she placed her hand on the dark haired man's face, tears were streaming down his face. The heart monitor flat lined and the woman's hand dropped from his face.__The doors behind him opened and a little girl of no more than 5 ran in, her looks very similar to the woman's except for her pale blue eyes. _

_"MOMMY!" she ran up too the bed and grasped the hand that lay limp on the table tears streaming down her eyes making them shine bright in the florescent lighting._

Crow's heart nearly stopped as he realized who that little girl was,

"Raven…" he whispered as the scene changed to the inside of what appeared to be another facility. Only this time it was Raven strapped to the table wearing nothing more than a tattered old white dress as tubes and wires protruded from her. Her body was severely malnourished and it was a wonder, In Crow's mind, that she was alive. The thought alone made his heart clench, even as the small girl took a ragged breath that made even his own lungs feel pain.

_Men in lab coats watched from behind a window as they proceeded to shock her brain, gaining various outcomes, and completely ignoring the girl's screams of pain. She turned her head as another wave of shocks were sent into her system, a strange blue liquid feeding into a needle protruding from her arm making the vein in her arm almost seem to glow. _

"_Daddy! Daddy please!" she screamed, but the familiar man behind the glass, now with gray streaks in his hair only smiles as readings come up on the screen. _

"_The test is going as planned, she is better than your previous subjects Wulf." One of them laughed. Wulf nodded, "Indeed, my late wife's offspring may prove useful after all." _

Akiza stood in front of the twins covering their view of the painful cries and blood that streamed down from the girls eyes and ears. Her scream seemed to echo as the scene once again changed this time however Raven was smiling as a bright crimson form hovered above her.

"_I accept your terms." She whispered as the form entered her body, the girl gasped as the red snake like form entered her body, she arched her back upwards as her eyes shined a bright yellow. Behind the glass however stood the four scientists from before, the computers around them going haywire as the power readings went crazy. _

"_Doctor! Readings are off the charts!" _

"_We've done it Doctor! We got the dragon!" they smiled even as the computers around them blew up the screens smoking black. _

As they watched this their marks began to glow again,

"Yusei, do you think…" Crow couldn't even finish the sentence. Yusei's cobalt eyes stared ahead, not believing what he had just seen,

"I don't know Crow." Crow had to hold back himself as he realized the man who had caused her such pain was right in front of him not that long ago and he did nothing. Jack and Yusei seemed to be having the same dilemma, as both of their hands were clenched tight and their bodies stood rigid. The scene changed again as two people, a man and a woman, their faces covered in shadow, were running down the hall with sirens going off behind them.

_In the woman's arms she held the unconscious form of Raven, _

"_Keep going Jane, don't look back!" the man yelled as they reached a door and slammed through it coming out in what looked to be an underground parking garage. The man running in an adjacent direction as the woman, Jane, ran toward a running car. As soon as she was inside and Raven was strapped against her did she look back the way she came. _

_The man drove one of the cars in front of the door, blocking their chasers from following them. He ran from the car and jumped into the one Jane was sitting inside; he gunned the car and drove out of the underground parking lot. He didn't slow down until after they had left New Domino city behind, and even then he kept looking back through the rear-view mirror. _

"_John…do you think we're safe?" he looked back another time before shaking his head, _

"_No honey, not until we get there will we be safe. But we got her out before they could use her powers and that's what matters right now." Jane stroked the sleeping girls' hair._

"_Don't worry Raven, no matter what Wulf won't get his hands on you. You'll have a hard life but I'm sure you'll meet people someday who will make all the hardship worth it." Jane pressed her forehead against the sleeping girls and John smiled and grabbed hold of his wife's hand. _

"_That's right Raven, but until then we'll do our best to raise you and make you strong enough to face the challenges ahead of you." Both their eyes shined with unshed tears, _

"_She's our daughter now." Jane said letting her tears fall, John nodded and turned back to the road. _

Crow wiped away the tears that had formed in his eyes as the walls moved like water again. Their marks began to glow as a tornado of crimson flames appeared in front of them, when they dispersed the Crimson Dragon flew before them raised up on its hind legs.

"_The past has been revealed. The future is once again in your hands my Signers. Protect the Vessel."_ Its voice echoed around them and they realized that was the voice from before.

"Wait!" Crow yelled before it could disappear them their sight again. Everyone looked toward him, but he had to ask this, _had_ to know.

"Is there a way to separate both of you?" The dragon's yellow eyes stared at him before replying,

"_Death." _His body sagged and tension filled his body again,

"Hold on, if we saw all of this…doesn't that mean that Raven did too?!" he yelled worried now.

"_She is aware of this occurrence, it is she who wished for you all to know this. Though she did it unconsciously her spirit felt you had a right to know, the memories she has locked away all this time have become clear and it is up to her what shall happen next." _Their eyes widened, the dragon roared as the crimson flames once again engulfed it and died down leaving Raven standing there. Her hands were folded together as if praying as her hair billowed softly around her.

The boys blushed as she was only wearing the shirt Crow had lent her that barely reached the middle of her thighs, and one of the shoulders falling off her slender ones. Crow stepped forward, reaching out toward her,

"Raven…" The girl opened her eyes and looked toward each of them, tears formed in her eyes as she got to Crow and she dropped her hand, the other reached out toward him. Crow ran toward her but before they could connect, like smoke she vanished from their sights and the white room bottomed out.

~0~0~0~0~

Crow opened his eyes and saw he was back inside the bathroom, he breathed hard before running out and back into his room.

"Raven?" he yelled as he flipped on the light switch, only to see an empty room. Still he searched the bed to make sure but found nothing, his heart nearly stopped as he remembered the image of her vanishing before her could get too her. He shook the feeling of dread from his body and left the room, running down the stairs. That's when he heard Bruno shouting from outside,

"Raven? Wake up!" he ran toward the blue haired boy's voice. When he got outside he noticed three things; it was snowing, that Raven was passed out in Bruno's arms, and that she had the complete mark of the Crimson Dragon glowing on her back. He appeared at the boy's side,

"Bruno, what happened?" he looked at Crow eyes wide,

"I don't know! I thought she was sleep walking at first but then this giant red tornado engulfed her and when it disappeared she collapsed." Crow reached out and carefully cupped her cheek, she instinctively turned toward it and he sighed.

"Let's get her back inside, it's snowing and I don't want her catching a cold." Bruno nodded and stood up carefully cradling her in his arms before walking back inside. Crow led the way as they walked into his room, the blue haired boy setting the girl carefully down on the bed before wrapping her tightly in the blankets. She was shivering and buried deeper into the warmth of the bed, Crow smiled.

"Thanks Bruno, you should head to bed though. It's getting pretty late." He looked at the sleeping girl before nodding his head. Crow heard Yusei's runner come in as he switched off the light and climbed in the bed with Raven, as he slipped under the covers she turned toward him. Crow wrapped himself around her, both for body heat and that he felt the need to be near her right now. He felt her breath on his neck and buried his face in her hair,

"I'm so sorry Raven…I'm sorry you had to go through all that all by yourself. But I promise we will be happy together and that damn Wulf will never get his hands on you again." He whispered silently as he heard Yusei and Bruno talking downstairs for a bit before the lights from under the door turned off, signaling they had gone to bed.

As Crow drifted off he swore he heard a soft,

"Thank you."

* * *

Umm...Well I don't really know what to say about this chapter. I hope it okay at least, so please review with anything thoughts or helpful comments and I promise i won't forget this week to update!

Till next time! :3


	15. Happy Day

_**Oh my gosh! Work has been crazy these last few days and I even went and finally got my tattoo! *cheers for me!* Anyway! Much love to FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne, Deseya, and my ever so mysterious Guest reviewer! I appreciate all your kind words! Now on with the chapter! **_

_**Disclaimer: The plot and OC's are completely mine, everything else belongs to their respective owners. **_

* * *

Raven groaned as the sun hit her face from the open window, she blinked and shut her eyes again, before yawning and finally managing to fully open both eyes. The first thing that came to mind was;

"Where am I? The last thing I remember was being with Crow and Doctor Schmidt then…" all of it came rushing back. Getting up, walking outside, and being forced to remember all of those horrible memories and to even top it off all of her new friends had also seen.

_That part _was exceptionally clear too her, but what happened after that she wasn't sure.

Moving her hand onto her forehead she stared at the ceiling as tears made their way down her face. She clenched her jaw to keep from waking the red head next to her, She wept, the salt of her life soaking the hair below, hot torrents of grief coursing out her eyes like the breaking of a dam, mingling with the uncomfortable softness of the sheets, her racking sobs shaking her thoroughly with the knowledge that she had obtained - that nothing would ever be the same again. Gasping for air, she turned her head toward the red head and sobbed into his chest, no longer caring about the sounds coming out of her mouth.

Raven knew the red head had woken up when he wrapped his arms tightly around her body, pressing her closer too him than she already was.

"Raven?" even wrapped in his arms the girl still couldn't stop the tears from cascading down her face, she squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop them but did little good as she gasped for air.

Everything hurt. From her toes too her head felt like it had been shattered, even after the tears had subsided and all she was left with was the sound of her hyperventilating. But even through all of this one single thing remained clear in her mind as she lay wrapped tightly in Crow's arms;

"I love you…" she whispered, grasping onto that fact for dear life. She felt him tense around her before sighing and sitting up so that he was kneeling above her, blushing as he stared into her eyes before smirking,

"I knew that silly," he kissed her lightly on the lips as he pulled her up, sliding his thumb across her eyes to wipe away the tears.

"I'll protect you, you know that right?" Raven held back more tears that threatened to fall as she looked into his steel colored eyes, she nodded and he kissed her again deeper this time. She opened her mouth as his tongue slid across her bottom lip, seeking entrance, which she complied happily as his muscle entered her mouth wrapping around her own. When they parted she was breathless and her lips were swollen, but she was happy. Crow smirked and kissed her forehead,

"Come on! I've got a big surprise for you today." Raven blinked,

"W-What? You don't have to give me anything…" she said blushing as he got up and stretched out his limbs.

"Well this is special so just get your butt down stairs soon okay?" he finished with a wink that sent her heart beating out of control, and with that he picked some clothes out of his drawers and left the room.

Raven lay back against the pillows and sighed her mood somewhat better than it had been before, 'I'm really happy I came here, so much has changed from before.' Thinking about her past made the truth about it harder to believe, 'Why would he do that? What could be possibly want with the Crimson Dragon?' she heard the bathroom door open and Crow start speaking with Yusei and Bruno as he walked down the stairs.

She huffed, 'I don't know enough about the thing to even begin wondering! Maybe one of the others would know, they've been Signers for a while. So they should know more about it…' the dark haired girl sighed again as she got up and walked over to the bag with her clothes and rummaged through picking out an outfit she then headed toward the shower.

~0~0~0~0~

Raven sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom the cool air hitting her instantly, the feeling was extravagant. She wore a pair of black skinny jeans with a dark long sleeve shirt that went around both her shoulders, high enough so that no one would see her scars. The shirt had an orange zipper on the front and stopped just around the middle of her stomach, showing more than what she was used too. But when she bought it Akiza had assured her that that was a good look on her, but mostly that a certain _someone_ would like it.

She blushed at the thought as she slipped on her boots and made her way downstairs where the others were sitting, though not just Yusei, Crow, and Bruno. She was surprised to see Jack, Carly, Akiza, and even the twins sitting with them chatting about this and that.

They had yet to notice her and she was happy about that as she wasn't ready for them to stare or ask if she was okay after last night, she was content however just watching them for the time being.

'I've never seen them like this, its nice.' She thought as she finger combed her hair and went to get some water from the kitchen, after filling her cup she sat at the table and just stared out the window.

The buildings and streets were covered in a sparkling white substance, there wasn't very much but it was enough to make her smirk at how beautiful it was. She took a sip of her water and let her thoughts take over as she slid forward on the table laying her head in her folded arms.

'No matter how happy I am though, I can't shake the weight on my heart and the uneasiness. Wul-my _father_,' she corrected herself 'is spreading this disease and if I don't do something soon someone is going to die and it will be all my fault.' She squeezed her arms, 'But how do I do that when the very thing that's supposed to cure it is ineffective against it?'

Raven stretched her arms out in front of her, using the table to prop up her chin as she looked out the window again, 'There's gotta be a way…' but when nothing came she groaned and pressed her forehead to the table top.

"Hey, are you sick or something?" the dark haired girls heart almost stopped as she jumped up in shock, standing next to her looking very smug was Leo. She sweat dropped and smiled,

"N-No, I'm fine." This was of course a lie, one which the teal haired youngster believed as he shrugged.

"We've been waiting for you though! Why are you over here by yourself?" he asked crossing one leg over the other and his arms over his head. She raised her brows,

"Sorry, I was just thinking."

"Is it about that dream that we all had last night?" she averted her gaze back to the window,

"S-Something like that…" She vaguely remembered she had never told them about her fathers connection to the disease that was currently spreading, Leo sighed bringing her thoughts back to the present.

"It sucks that all of that happened too you." He said simply, she cringed unsure of how to respond to that.

"I-I mean uhh…" He was blushing at this point as he stuttered trying to form a sentence,

"UGH! I'm sorry you're dad turned you into a lab rat!" he finally said, Raven snorted and burst into a round of giggles. After it had passed she wiped the tears that had formed and looked at the baffled boy,

"Thank you Leo, but you can't change the past. It's over and done with, I figure it's a better use of my time to think about the future." He still looked confused,

"But doesn't it hurt?"

"Well yes, but it was such a long time ago and eventually the pain will get easier to deal with...Though it's not something that will go away completely, it will just leave a scar over time." The teal haired boy blinked a couple of times and shook his head.

"I have no idea what you're saying!" he yelled, Raven just laughed and patted his head,

"You'll understand when you're older." She said as she stood up stretching her tense muscles, and walking back over to where the rest of the group sat.

"See Luna! Told you I could find her!" she sighed,

"I never said you couldn't." the teal haired boy just stuck out his tongue before turning to Crow,

"So can we show her now? Pleeeeaaaseeeee?" Crow laughed as he walked over and entwined their hands pulling her towards him. Raven giggled,

"Show me what?" Jack scoffed,

"Well it wouldn't be a surprise if we told you what it was." She sweat dropped,

"T-That's true I suppose…" Crow seemed like he wanted to say something but held back as he smiled at her.

"Alright guys, let's do this!" and with that he placed a hand over her eyes and wrapping her coat around her shoulders,

"No peeking got it?" it freaked her out a bit not being able to see, but she trusted the people around her and nodded her head as Crow led her forward and out through a door, the chill hitting her again but more intense this time, making her shudder.

She heard fabric hit the ground as Crow uncovered her eyes; blinking a couple of times as she gasped at what was in front of her: A dark purple duel runner in the shape of a dragon, with wings that went up the sides.

Her eyes were wide as she stared at it, the runner was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. As she walked around it looking from all angles she couldn't find one thing she didn't like about it, looking at the people before her she couldn't think of something to say.

"I-Is this…?" she couldn't finish the sentence she was so shocked but they nodded, Carly was standing taking pictures but otherwise everyone was smiling.

"H-How…why?" Bruno answered,

"Well, Crow felt really bad that you got into that accident so when I brought back the pieces of your old runner we thought it would be nice to rebuild it."

"Bruno and I did the technical stuff." Yusei chimed in.

"Me and the twins helped with the design." Akiza said

"I did the paint job!" Jack said crossing his arms and refusing to look at her, but she could still see a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"And I did the welding and shaping." Crow finished as he handed her, her duel disk. "Its our present too you."

Raven hugged her duel disk close with one hand and covered her eyes with the other as tears began to rain down her face. Crow gasped and flailed,

"D-Don't cry! Oh gosh! I'm sorry I-" she cut him off with a shake of her head.

"I-I'm happy! I don't deserve such kind people in my life, but I have them and it just makes me so happy that you all went through so much trouble for me." She sobbed, Crow smiled understanding.

"It wasn't any trouble at all!" Akiza said hugging Yusei's arm, Leo nodded.

"Yeah! You're our friend and friends do this kind of stuff for each other." Raven smiled, even as tears made their way down her cheeks. Wiping them from her eyes she looked at them with a smile,

"Can I try it out?" Crow balled his fists out in front of himself;

"Duh!" she nodded and placed the duel disk on the board making the screen light up, Jack walked up and plopped her helmet on her head. She giggled as she adjusted it and he walked back inside with Yusei, Akiza and Crow she was confused until they came back out with their own runners.

Raven climbed on and tested out the grip on the handle bars, she was amazed at how everything was to her exact measurements. Even the accelerators at her feet were in the perfect position,

"You ready Raven?" Crow asked smiling; she nodded as the twins got onto Yusei's and Akiza's duel runners, with Carly shakily getting onto Jack's.

Her heart was beating fast as she faced forward and closed her eyes, just listening to the silence; the beating of her heart, her own breathing. She opened her eyes and pressed down on the accelerator, the runner roaring to life beneath her.

The other runners around her did the same and she smiled at the feeling, how _right_ it felt to have them around her. Raven slammed down both accelerators, the runner taking off smoothly from her previous position, sending her flying down the street. She made a sharp turn and was amazed how easily she did it, and as she weaved in and out of traffic she understood why Jack and Crow drove they way they did.

The speed and control they had was definitely a high, one that she had missed. Raven barely noticed the others behind her as she made a turn onto the highway ramp, it was mostly empty and here she could _really_ see what this runner was capable of.

* * *

Crow laughed as he watched his girlfriend's inner speed demon come out, but he was amazed at how good she was. Like riding a duel runner was as easy as breathing, then again he had never really seen her ride like she was right now. Even though her skin was red from the cold her body was completely relaxed even as she made turns and swerved in and out of on coming traffic.

"Geeze! And she called _me_ the insane driver!" Jack yelled just as amazed as Crow,

"So I guess that means she's the new 'Master of Faster' eh Jack?" he teased, the blonde narrowed his eyes and sped past the others attempting to catch up with her, causing the girl hanging on to his back to scream.

Crow knew Raven had the advantage when mid-morning traffic blocked Jack's path, but it also blocked Raven from his sights, which made him worry. Until the traffic turned off onto other streets and he saw her back again, he noticed she was slowing down.

'Come on Raven, show me what you really got.' He said as he motioned for the others to pick up the pace, they had nearly caught up with both her and Jack when Crow noticed her doing something strange, she was moving in a snake like motion.

"What the heck is she doing?" Akiza asked from behind him, the red head shook his head not really sure either. Smoothly she turned the bike on it's back wheel and spun it so that she faced them, that's when it hit him, 'She's good at tricks i'll give her that!' he smirked as he sped up more, past Jack who had slowed down with Carly freaking out. Crow came up next too Raven and turned his runner so it faced the same way as hers, and together they just cruised on the now empty highway.

"Crow! Watch out!" Yusei said from in front of him as a man dressed in all black sped towards them, by the time Crow actually saw him he was too close to turn away. He grunted as Raven slammed the side of her runner into his, he recovered in time too see her roll up onto her front wheel to keep from swerving into the man and moving her out of the way. Crow would have breathed a sigh of relief if not for the tow truck parked behind her and coming up fast!

"Raven, behind you!" She glanced back too late as her runner rolled up the back, Crow was almost afraid to watch as she landed her back wheel just as the cabin of the truck hit flipping her upwards. His heart jumped in his throat as she seemed to move in slow motion, her head barely missing hitting the roof as her D-wheel flipped over the truck. Finally landing on the street on her back wheel again, and here her grip finally gave out as she fell and hit the ground. Her D-wheel was about to fall on her until Akiza stepped in,

"Go Rose Tentacles!" the green monster wrapped its arms around her duel runner keeping it from falling on the girl and setting it down next too her before vanishing again. Crow pulled up, jumped off and ran up next too her. Raven's helmet had come off during the fall and landed a few feet from her as she lay on the ground wheezing and clutching her stomach. He looked in the direction the man went but he had vanished just as quickly as he came.

"Damn that bastard! What's his problem?!" he yelled as the others stopped behind him,

"Crow! Raven! Oh my gosh! That was so cool! And scary! But way cool!" Leo yelled, "Is Raven alright?" Said girl sat up coughing but waved her hand toward them, Crow sighed in relief.

"She just got the wind knocked out of her. That was a pretty reckless move though girlie, I would have found a way to not get knocked into next week." He said with a smile. Raven's breathing returned to normal and she smiled at him,

"Don't be jealous just because I was quicker on the uptake Crow." She giggled as she said this and stood up patting the dust off her clothes.

"Raven, how did you _do _that?" Yusei asked curiously. She smiled sheepishly,

"Well…actually I was supposed to stop. I'm not really sure why it flipped. Guess I must have been faster than I thought." She said blushing, they all sweat dropped but smiled happy she was okay at least. Raven looked the direction the man went a worried look on her face,

"Jack that was…" the blonde nodded,

"Indeed." Crow was confused,

"Do you two know that whack job?" Jack nodded,

"That's the idiot who challenged me too a duel a few days ago with Raven." The red head nodded as he stood up grabbing her helmet on the way.

"Lets worry about that later, today is a happy day!" he said handing the helmet to Raven and rubbing her frozen red cheeks. The sound of her giggling made his heart rate speed up, he was truly happy to see her smiling.

"Come on! Lets go get you warmed up!" She smiled and nodded.

~0~0~0~0~

Raven followed the others as they went further into the city, they parked their D-wheels near the park that her and Crow had first met at. It sent shivers down her spine as she stared at the spot where she used to sit and people watch, the place she had first seen the red haired man now wrapping his arm around her waist and dragging her away.

They approached the large field next too the park and that's when she noticed all the people walking the same direction as them. There were many more people clustered around different stands and walking around chatting amongst themselves.

"Wow, there's a lot less people here than last year!" Leo shouted, Raven groaned. 'If this is less I'd hate to be here when there is more.' Crow gave her a confused look but she waved it off and turned to whisper in his ear about something.

"Is it customary to wear a face mask to…whatever this is?" she asked as all the people walking around had white face masks over their mouths, the red head laughed.

"_This_," he motioned ahead of them, "Is the winter festival; they used to hold it in Satellite for the kids when Neo Domino city was separate from us. Now we hold it here so everyone can enjoy it, and people are just worried about that bug that's going around." He shrugged obviously thinking they were insane.

Crow pointed toward something and dragged her in that direction and to her dismay right into the crowd of people. But Raven's mind was only partially on the various people around her, what occupied her most was thoughts about that 'bug'. 'Its my fault that this is happening to these people…' she mentally cursed herself for her own short comings, and as the red head came to a stop by a stand with cups filled with a steaming liquid and saw the smile on his face, she knew he was trying to make her happy right now.

'I guess I shouldn't dwell on it right now, Crow and everyone are doing their very best to make this day good. So I should try too!' she decided as Crow shoved a Styrofoam cup in her hand, the liquid smelled sweet and spicy.

"What's…this?" He smirked making her blush,

"Just drink it, I promise Jack didn't make it!" the comment earned a growl from the blonde but they both ignored it as she looked at the liquid, a little uncertain but took a tiny sip of the steaming liquid anyway, it tasted of apples and…cinnamon? She smiled as it began warming her up from the inside out,

"It's good." Crow downed his own drink in a few gulps and smiled,

"See? I told you it wasn't bad, now come on! We've got lots of stuff to check out!" And with that he took her hand again and dragged her off into the crowd.

~0~0~0~0~

Raven collapsed onto a bench that was thankfully empty, her feet hurt from standing so much and her back her from bending to pick up the things Crow had won. Thankfully a kind lady had taken pity on her and given her a bag to put the five fish he had won, all in a contest with Jack who also got five before they were forced to move on, and the mounds of candy the male said he

"Had to have." Or "They are for the kids!"

Both she highly doubted, but being soft hearted as she was with him she just giggled and pretended not to notice him grab more. She set the bags down beside her as Crow continued his latest competition with Jack over a cork shooting game, the way she saw it Jack insisted he could win a very cute looking bear for Carly but Crow, being himself, begged to differ and betted him that he could win it for herself.

Both girls had insisted that they didn't _need_ the bear and could live without it, but it was too late by then because the two had already begun shooting the tiny shot guns toward the bottles.

At that point Raven sighed spotted the bench she was currently resting on and offered to watch Carly's own bag of stuff while she sat down. She pulled her prize out of one of the bags, a large stuffed Crow with an orange beak. The very first thing Crow won here and gave to her, and she loved it.

"That's cute!" a familiar voice behind her said as the blue haired Bruno sat down next too her, he held up a green…thing with three eyes with a thin black lip with its tongue sticking out. Raven looked at it a little apprehensively but smiled,

"Leo and Luna won me this!" he smiled, she giggled at his enthusiasm.

"It's cute!" which wasn't entirely a lie it just looked strange too her. She wondered where the two were until she saw them over with Carly, Jack and Crow. Who had at this point, all gotten into the game. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face,

"It's nice to see them all having so much fun." Bruno said also staring at them, she nodded.

"I bet things are pretty stressful with the WRGP coming up soon, it's a dueling tournament right?" the blue haired boy nodded,

"All sorts of duelists from around the world are going to be there to compete, so they've all been working pretty hard to get ready." Raven snuggled the bird closer too her chest,

"I would like to see that." Bruno laughed,

"You will! Crow will want you in the pit with the rest of us cheering them on!" she smiled, not really sure what a pit was and why she would want to be in it but she let out a chilled breath, it had stopped snowing a while ago but the temperature just kept getting lower as the sky got darker, her teeth were nearly chattering. Remembering the drink from earlier she decided she wanted some and that she would get Crow some too, since he was probably getting cold as well, and figuring it was nearby stood up.

"Bruno, I'm sorry. Would you mind waiting here with this stuff?" he nodded,

"Sure, what for?" she smiled and stood,

"Just to get something really quick." And with that she took off into the crowd, despite the bluenette's yells.

* * *

**Well there we have it, _Oh! And the thing Bruno is holding? Yeah its a real thing! They are called 'Ugly Monsters', I saw it at work and just thought 'OMG I can see Bruno with this!' _********_Please Review with any questions or comments! They make me really happy inside and help me keep getting this chapters out!_**

**_Till next time! :3_**


	16. Stop

_**Major major apologies! T-T I'm afraid I started a new full time job and it's quite time consuming! But fear not dear readers, as I haven't given up my drive for this story! Please enjoy this next chapter! **_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh 5Ds I wouldn't have to work my butt off everyday at work. :P **_

* * *

Raven wasn't sure how long she'd been walking or how many stalls she had passed but she couldn't seem to find the stand from earlier, clutching the bird closer too her she looked around worriedly.

'Great…I can't find the stall or the others. This isn't good…' her heart started to pound as she came to the realization,

"I'm lost." And what was worse was the fact that she had somehow gone straight into the dense crowd and it didn't seem to be getting thinner anytime soon. Raven shivered as the wind passed by again, this time her teeth were actually chattering.

She had to stop as her fear of crowds got the best of her, making her vision swirl and her stomach suddenly weak. Placing a hand over her mouth she noticed something else, though the people around her pretty much ignored her she could hear her name being said, over and over.

"**Kill." **

"**Abomination." **

"**Monster" **

"**Raven." **

The voices were everywhere, yet she couldn't actually see anyone saying those things. Her heart pounded harder as the voices got closer and closer, her lungs seemed to freeze and refuse to accept air. She touched her throat but felt herself breathing in and out like normal yet she didn't _feel_ it.

Everything stopped suddenly when she felt tiny hands clasp around her leg, she looked down eyes wide as a young boy no older than 8 or 9, with tattered clothes and dirty blonde hair under a patched up gray hat, was furiously trying to rip off her deck holder, but finding the buckle a bit more than he could handle.

Raven wasn't sure what he was after until finally he got it un-done and began to run away from her. This shook her from her trance-like state and she took off after the child just barely keeping him in her line of sight through the crowd. Finally they broke through and it was just them as they ran through the park, the kid always just a step away from her as he zig zagged through the trees.

She was just barely able to keep up and as she passed a red and black haired couple hiding in the trees, they called out her name in worry but she ignored them as the kid ran straight for the streets. Her heart pounded hard as the child ran into the oncoming traffic just as a large truck came,

"Look out!" She dived for the child and held tightly as a loud horn filled her ears.

* * *

Crow sighed,

"Looks like we got kicked out of another game." He said as he approached the bench that Raven was on. Only to look and see only Bruno sitting there with a green square alien in his lap,

"How many has that been today Crow?" he said with a laugh. Crow raised his brow, the bag with all of his stuff was there with the bluenette but the dark haired girl was no where to be found.

"Bruno, where's Raven?" he shrugged,

"She said she was going to get something, but that was a while ago." He said looking worried. He could feel his heart nearly stop as he looked around. Jack, Carly, and the twins coming up behind him,

"Did you guys see where she went?" he asked them, they looked at each other before shaking their heads. Suddenly their crimson marks began to burn and glow as a vision of Raven holding a child as a truck came toward them flashed in front of his eyes, her eyes glowed a bright yellow as crimson light enveloped her body before both of them vanished just as the truck went past.

"Shit!" he cursed and looked frantically around as the vision ended, his heart beated hard against his chest.

"Crow, relax! Maybe she found Akiza and Yusei and is with them, trying calling them." Bruno suggested. He nodded but before he could pull out his pager there was a ringing from inside the bag with the fish, some song about being wide awake began playing. He realized it was her cell phone and quickly fished it out flipping it open without looking at the caller ID.

"Raven!"

"Crow? Crow, Its Akiza." He heard cars in the background and got worried,

"Akiza is Raven with you and Yusei?" he heard talking but couldn't hear what they were saying.

"Yeah Raven's with us, I assume your mark lit up as well?" Crow confirmed it, and the women told him their location before he hung up the phone. Breathing a sigh of relief he looked at the others,

"She's fine," they all sighed as well, "Would you mind staying here with our stuff while I go get her?" Jack crossed his arms,

"You better bring that trouble maker straight back here so I can give her an extra large whacking for being such a nuisance to my royal self." Crow rolled his eyes and smirked, he knew that was just 'Jack talk' for "I was really worried and I want to make sure myself that she is okay."

'Although if he actually hits her I might have to fight him.' He thought glancing at the blonde who had started speaking again,

"Of course the little fool wouldn't be in this situation if you had taken better care of her." Talk about digging the knife deeper, Crow growled throwing up a fist in confrontation,

"What the hell you trying to say?" Jack rolled his eyes,

"Oh please, if you had been looking out for her like a proper boyfriend instead of playing games she wouldn't have run off." Crow glared,

"Yeah right! And who are you too comment on my relationship when your constantly ignoring Carly for Raven's sake. She's not your god damn sister man, so back off!" the blonde leaned down bringing their faces closer, his arms still crossed on his chest.

"Don't think you can tell me who I, Jack Atlas, can and can't consider siblings stupid bird!" Jack said using his height to glare down at him.

"Guys come on; this is nothing to fight over." Bruno said trying to alleviate the situation but to no avail as they both just turned and yelled at him too,

"Keep out of it!"

"Don't give me that, king-wanna-be attitude! She's my girlfriend and I say you can't treat her that way. And besides she wouldn't have walked away if you hadn't gotten all competitive with those games, it probably scared her!"

"Says the boy who constantly insults and berates her then turns around and apologizes like an abusive husband! I will never understand what she sees in the likes of you."

For Crow things seemed to move in slow motion after that, he wasn't even aware of his arm raising or connecting with the blondes face, sending him crashing to the ground. His awareness didn't kick in even when he heard yelling and his name being called as he continued to pummel the blonde or when he was being pulled backwards by Yusei and Bruno.

Time seemed to start again as a small form wrapped their arms around him, sad blue eyes staring up at him and the sweet sound of her voice saying his name in only the way she could that would make his heart beat hard against his chest. The red head felt her hands on his cheeks, his own arms wrapped around her body instinctually as he buried his face in her neck.

* * *

Raven wasn't sure what happened; she, Akiza and Yusei had arrived after parting ways with the child whom she had ended up giving money too anyway. When they arrived Jack and Crow seemed to be at each others throats for some reason, then the blonde had called Crow an 'abusive husband' which on one hand made her blush but on the other had struck her hard in the heart.

Crow seemed to move as if he was a blur and suddenly he was on top of the blonde punching him over and over as he lay on the ground. Yusei and Bruno was able to pull them apart as Carly rushed over to check on the blonde who sat up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

Crow however didn't seem to want to stop as he pushed against the two holding him, Raven moved on impulse putting herself between the two and wrapping her arms around the red haired male. Instantly he seemed to come back to himself as his once rigid body slackened and she felt his arms wrap securely around her.

Raven looked up into his eyes, placing her hands softly on his face as he suddenly hid it in her neck. She was surprised at first but gently rubbed her thumbs across his cheeks hoping to calm him, she could tell he was upset by Jacks comment and maybe even the actions that resulted because of it.

"Shhh…its okay Crow…Just relax, everything's going to be okay…" she said calmly, she heard Leo call after Jack as he began to silently walk away. She could tell he was also still angry by the sound of his footsteps; she spoke softly

"Jack." He stopped,

"We all know you didn't mean what you said, and Crow shouldn't have reacted the way he did. I'm not mad, so please take all the time you need to calm down." He stood there for a few minutes more before silently walking away, Carly trailing behind him asking him a barrage of questions. Raven sighed,

"It seems I cause trouble even when I'm _not _around." She chuckled attempting to lighten the mood too little avail as Crow hold on her waist just seemed to tighten.

"It looks like theirs a warming station over there; we should go there till Jack comes back." Yusei pointed to a tented area not far from them, they all nodded their skin red from the cold. Bruno picked up their bags of prizes, fish and candy; she smiled in thanks at him as he walked past and turned her attention to the male still leaning against her.

"Crow, come on. Lets go get warmed up okay?" he nodded and stepped away from her, his hands still firmly on her waist.

Once they were inside the tent Raven let out a sigh as her body temperature rose and she could feel her toes again. Inside she saw some tables set up with a few places for food vendors and heaters at every corner, along with a small area with a single round step, what looked to be a TV and a long black stick that sat in the middle.

Instead of figuring out what that could possibly be her attention turned to the maroon haired woman who waved them over to an empty table, patting the males hands on her waist she lead them toward it. Crow sat down heavily on one of the chairs, burying his face in his hands. Sitting next to him she smiled at the others who stood around them,

"Is he going to be okay?" Luna looked worried, Raven nodded.

"Yeah he will, why don't you all go get something to eat? I'm sure your starving after all this excitement." Leo's stomach growled loudly in response. Raven giggled,

"Then we will get something for you and Crow too, ok?" the young boy smiled as he ran off to one of the vendors with the others trailing behind him. Once they were gone she turned back to Crow who still hadn't moved from his position.

"Crow? Are you gonna mope all day now?" she smirked as she said this; Crow slid his hands in his orange locks sighing loudly.

"I'm such an idiot!" she chuckled,

"Well yes, you can be." He looked at her shocked for a second before smiling.

"Hey! You're supposed to make me feel better, not insult me!" he put on a mock sad face and quickly shifting forward his hands tickling her sides, she curled into herself giggling as she tried to wiggle away from him.

Crow was persistent however and continued laughing along with her before his hands stilled and moved upwards until they were resting on her cheeks as she had done earlier, she blushed as her head was moved till both were looking straight into the others eyes making her heart race as he smiled at her.

Pale blue eyes widened as he leaned forward capturing her lips with his own in a soft but meaningful kiss that, when he pulled away again, left her breathless.

"I must have done something right to meet you Raven." He whispered as he stole another kiss, this one more passionate than the last, her lips parting slightly with his own.

Her already pounding heart had to keep from stopping as she felt his tongue enter her mouth, twisting and rubbing against her own. She was so lost in the feeling of his mouth against her she almost forgot where they were. _Almost._

A soft "Ahem." Broke them from their bubble of passionate lip-locking, making Raven pull her head away from his, it wasn't until then that their change in position was actually noted; somewhere along the way she had gone from her own seat to sitting on Crow's lap, her hands buried deep in his bright orange hair, his headband failing to the side slightly nearly covering one of his eyes, Crows own hands were in a similar situation the exception being that one of his hands lay on her lower back. And both were breathing heavily as if they had just run a mile without stopping, and worse yet; Yusei and the others had returned and were currently giving them a mix of blushes and sly smiles.

Raven personally didn't know weather to be mortified that they had witnessed that or the fuzzy feeling that was left in her head after that _amazing_ kiss.

The dark haired girl decided to let him handle this as she bent her head down and hid it in his neck, a dark blush on her cheeks at this predicament.

* * *

Crow felt Raven press her face against his neck and chuckled as he fixed his lopsided headband, he could feel a slight blush on his cheeks as he stared up at Yusei who smirked down at him as Akiza rushed Leo and Luna to the other side of the table food trays in hand.

"Uh…Hey guys, welcome back?" Yusei just rolled his eyes,

"Try to keep it PG dude, we are in a public place." He joined Akiza on the other side of the table as Leo slid a tray toward them,

"Here, we weren't really sure what to get you guys so we just got you some taiyaki. One is with Chocolate and another is with cheese." Leo said with a smile as he proceeded to dig into his own plate of food. Crow smirked,

"Thanks little man." He tapped the girl still currently hiding her face, on the shoulder.

"Hey tomato face, come on its chow time!" she nodded and slowly got off his lap, he instantly missed the warmth she had provided but figured from her beet red face that would be pushing it. As she returned to her own seat and picking up her own fish shaped pastry, blowing on it lightly.

Crow picked up the remaining pasty and bit into it as he watched her bend it from the middle, effectively pulling the two halves apart. The brown chocolate filling spilling out slightly from both ends, he watched her in wonder as she took the larger of the halves and placed it back on the plate before carefully biting into the smaller portion in her hands with a smile.

The red head chuckled softly at how much she resembled a proud child, she looked up hearing his laughter and blushed as he looked at her, a single eye brow raised and a smile on his lips.

"Saving some for later Ms. Hamster?" his heart skipped at how cute she looked as she blushed and looked away,

"I-It's for…Jack and Cary…I'm sure they will be hungry to when they come back…" Raising an eye brow he looked at her seriously,

"He might not come back you know, when Jack gets steamed he tends to disappear for a while to blow off steam." She shrugged,

"It's the least I can do…since I'm kind of the reason you both were fighting in the first place…" Crow, about to disagree was interrupted by Akiza.

"That's true, but it's only because both of those lug heads care about you. But they both took it too far, so if it's anyone's fault it's theirs." The red haired girl took a sip of her drink, Crow knew she was right.

'It _did _start that way, and then I had to go and instigate him. I'm sure Jack was just as worried about Raven as I was...Speaking of which…' Crow turned his gaze back on Raven and leaned in close,

"So _why did you_ run off?" Said raven haired girl was in mid-chew as he asked this question, she sported her signature blush and quickly swallowed her food.

"W-Well…I got cold waiting for you and then I remembered that warm drink from earlier, I didn't think it was far so…I kinda went off…" Little tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she continued.

"Then this little kid took my deck so I had to chase after him and he ran into traffic and a car was about to hit him…" Crow's heart pounded hard at the memory, "Then suddenly we were both back in the park and Yusei and Akiza were there. I-I asked him why he took my deck and he told me about how h-his little brother was sick and needed money to pay for the medical bills…" she trailed off here, her eyes glassy as her teeth lightly nibbled on her bottom lip.

Crow could feel his hands itching to be around her, so much so he almost dropped his pastry. Before he could act upon this though Carly came stomping into the tent, her face red and cheeks puffed out like a puffer fish in Crow's opinion, which also meant that Jack wouldn't be far behind.

* * *

_**Weellll there we have it! I I wonder what happened with Carly? I bet Jack's big mouth said something mean! Lol anywho! Please Review with any thoughts or opinions I'd love to hear from you all! And I promise to update on time this week! :D**_

**_Till Next time! :3_**


	17. A Birds Song

**Hooray! I almost forgot to update today, I really did. But then i remembered and well yeah...anywho! I don't think i did a thank you for all my reviews on the previous chapter but; Thanks to: FiringShootingStar, Scarlett Wolf, Magdalene Thorne, JPKos, and my ever mysterious Anon for all your wonderful reviews! it makes me happy to see that you all are still reading this despite my lateness. ****_Now, on with the story!_**

_**Disclaimer: I still don't own Yugioh 5Ds in any way, shape or form. **_

* * *

Raven was seriously about to cry as she told Crow all that happened before, but she had made a promise to herself not to cry today. 'Today's supposed to be a happy day…' she would repeat this mantra in her head as she spoke to keep the tears from falling; she knew Crow would be angry about _that_ and her insecurities reared their ugly heads.

Fearing that Crow would be mad enough to leave her she reacted naturally and that was to cry. She'd always been an easy crier but she was toughing it out, even as she refused to look at the male in front of her.

Suddenly Carly appeared and sat down heavily in one of the chairs nearby, crossing her arms over her chest, her brows furrowed close together above her glasses. Raven rubbed her eyes as Jack walked into the tent sporting a red mark across his right cheek, 'Oh dear…'

The blonde strode past the pouting girl and made a bee line straight for Raven, his hands wrapping around both her cheeks pinching and pulling them.

"I hope your happy now! Carly slapped me because of you!"

"Ow! Why?" she pried his hands off her now sore cheeks, rubbing them lightly as he stood towering over her his arms crossed in a similar manner to Carly's own.

"Jack calm down, just explain what happened." Yusei said calmly. Jack scoffed,

"For some reason Carly believes I am…in love with _you_!" he accentuated the last word by shoving his finger into Raven's cheek. They were silent for a second, before Akiza broke the silence.

"Are you?"

"NO! Going after a friend's girlfriend is undignified for a king." Raven blushed at the title; Crow stared at him entertained as he munched on the last of his pastry.

"This is karma Jack; it's what you get for digging so hard on my girl." Raven felt like she was going to faint as her heart skipped a beat,

"C-Crow!" the red head smirked at her, Jack moved toward him as if to strangle him, but Raven acting on instinct quickly grabbed hold of the blondes arm and yanked him back as best she could. Which given her strength was barely even a foot, but it did the trick as he blonde turned his attention back to her.

He looked down at her arms wrapped around his own, she could even feel Carly's glare from behind her. Quickly dropping his arm she stepped away,

"I don't know what you want me to do Jack…"

"I think Yusei and Akiza do!" Leo yelled catching both their attentions, Akiza smirked as she pointed to the stage on the other side of the tent.

"Yusei says you can sing…" So far, Raven didn't like where this was going.

~0~0~0~0~

"I can't do this." Raven repeated that over and over as the teal haired girl explained how the strange T.V. worked, her entire body was shaking as the people sitting around the tables began to stare at her as others filed in to warm up. She squeezed her eyes shut as someone pointed toward her and began to giggle; she could feel tears well up in her eyes.

"Okay Raven, I've chosen the song for you so all you have to do is follow the words on the screen and we'll take care of Jack and Carly." Raven shook her head,

"I-I can't…there are too many people…"

"Of course you can Raven! You just gotta put your mind too it!" Luna had a sweet smile on that made her feel calm but she was still unsure, Leo ran up behind his sister.

"Just imagine them all in their underwear!" Raven blushed and nearly fainted as she remembered that night she _actually _ saw Crow in his underwear, she shook her head.

"Alright! Yusei and Crow will take care of Jack, and Akiza and us and will take care of Carly. Just focus on the words." Leo sent her a thumbs up before dashing off again dragging his sister with him. Raven sighed, 'I hope I don't mess this up.'

She looked across the crowd at the Crow who was currently speaking, or yelling she couldn't tell which, with the blonde his arms crossed over his chest. She could see he wasn't used to having to resort to this sort of thing, which made her sigh again. 'Well that makes two of us Jack.'

* * *

Crow noticed her watching and after nodding toward the two in front of him he smiled and gave her a thumbs up, _that _was the signal he had given her to begin anytime. She took a seat on the stool in the middle of the stage and taking a deep breath she pressed the button on the little T.V.

There was a three second count down before the sound a piano filled the space around her, followed in turn by the bright sound of a violin. She took another breath as the words appeared on the screen in front of her.

Crow had forgotten how amazing her voice sounded when she sang, enchanting and warm; it reminded him of the ocean that would lap against the shores of the Satellite. How soothing and beautiful it seemed to him as she got to the chorus;

"_I have died everyday waiting for you, darling don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more." _ She held this part out lowly as Jack walked over to Carly, catching her attention from the sound of Raven's voice to his face. Kneeling down on one knee the blonde held his hand out toward her,

"May I have this dance?" even though her glasses blocked her eyes Crow could see that she was shocked, Jack _never_ bowed to anyone with exception of Martha, but even he did that reluctantly, let alone danced. She nodded and placed her hand in his, the blonde smiled and pulled her toward an open area. Wrapping his arm around her waist and holding her other hand upwards.

They stepped back and forward and fluid motions, even though neither of them seemed to know what they were doing it still looked _right_ to anyone looking at them. Crow smiled and turned his attention back to Raven, who seemed to hold the microphone confidently in one hand and another hand pressed against her chest.

"_One step closer….one step closer!" _she held out the last word her voice more resembling that of a piccolo, more couples joined Carly and Jack on the floor, Yusei and Akiza being one of them. But neither of them were particularly focused on them right now, as stormy gray mixed with pale blue. Her voice low again continued;

"_I have died everyday waiting for you, darling don't be afraid I have loved you; for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more." _Her voice rose again on the last word before taking a short breath and beginning again.

"_And all along I believed I would find you..." _here Crow really believed her voice resembled the waves as it moved smoothly up and down.

"_Time has brought your heart to me; I have loved you for a thousand years._ _I'll love you for a thousand….more."_ she whispered the last word as the violin and piano finished the song, the red head managed to tear his eyes away from Raven just in time to see Jack and Carly seal their make up with a kiss.

People around him applauded loudly shocking both himself and Raven on stage, he smirked as she blushed and showed a small smile. Putting the microphone back on its stand she bowed, as she stood again Crow made his way through the crowd till he stood directly in front of her, the smile she gave him once they locked eyes again nearly stopped his heart.

She walked toward the edge of the stage and as she hopped off, Crow caught her under her thighs so that she was looking down on him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Did it work?" Her voice was shaking but he smiled,

"See for yourself!" he knew she saw them when she turned her head back, face beet red. Crow moved his arms so that she slid downward, landing on her feet directly in front of him. As he stared at her slightly dusted red cheeks under the lights he couldn't help but think, 'Wow, she really looks like she's glowing.' He pecked her on the lips softly and chuckled,

"You were great Raven. You should sing to me more often, my little song bird." Swaying them back and forth, his hands on her shoulders and hers on his own, as another person took the mic, though they weren't as good as she was it was still enough to dance softly too. He felt her let out a sigh as she leaned her head against his shoulder,

"That was so much fun, and I wouldn't have had the courage to do it without you Crow." He wanted to disagree but her voice continued,

"I'm so happy right now; about them," she motioned to Jack and Carly who were smiling at each other. "About what I just did." And here she looked at him a soft smile on her lips that made his eyes widened from the beauty,

"And especially about _you_. So thank you Crow, thank you for everything." Then she did something he never would have thought she would, she leaned up on her toes and kissed him. Crow's hands traveled up her neck and into her hair as he deepened the kiss, as his tongue mingled with her own he tasted the faint chocolate from earlier, breaking away he pressed his forehead against her own,

"You taste like chocolate." And the blush she gave him as she laughed Crow decided he wanted to hear for a very very long time.

* * *

For the remainder of the night Raven danced and laughed, it was one of the greatest nights of her life, one that she swore she would remember always.

It wasn't until the twins fell asleep that they realized how late it was and decided to call it a night, which was good for Raven because her voice was starting to go from singing and laughing. So much so that her bruised ribs began to ache, but unwilling to ruin the happy mood everyone was in she attempted to deal with it in silence, but as time passed she found it harder and harder to do so.

As they made it back to their runners now almost completely covered in snow as it started to come down a bit harder than before, Yusei walked over to the street and waving his hand a yellow car almost immediately pulled up next to him, the side reading "Taxi". The bitter cold made her side hurt even worse then before.

"Why don't I take the twins back to their house? I don't think either of them will be waking up any time soon." Bruno held Luna in his arms while Crow had Leo over his shoulder both of them sleeping soundly, it made Raven smile when she saw them.

"I'm gonna head over to Akiza's for the night, I promised her dad I would help him with his computer tomorrow." Raven could see both of them blushing but trying to hide it and began to wonder why they were so embarrassed about sharing a bed for a night as she brushed snow off her runner.

When Bruno and Crow had gotten the twins into the waiting Taxi the blonde turned on his heel and grabbed Carly around the waist as he headed toward his own runner,

"I'm sleeping at Carly's tonight so I bid you good night!" said girl turned a bright shade of red but smiled as she said her goodnights also before Jack sped off into the night, Akiza and Yusei started their runners heating them up.

"Bruno, what about your motorcycle?" Raven didn't know what else to call the little yellow bike, but the blue haired male seemed to love it so who was she to judge? Said male looked awkwardly between her and Crow who after pushing the snow off his seat had also started his runner.

"W-Well I was hoping one of you could trailer it behind us so I can just come back to the garage tomorrow, since you both have those claw cords." Raven's eyes widened, this was definitely news to her.

"I-I do?" she winced as the sound of her voice, like that of sandpaper, scrapped against her ears, rubbing her throat she looked around her runner hoping to find where this contraption was. Luckily Yusei helped her out before she could completely miss it;

"It's the kickstand, there's a button the handle that you push to release it. But you shouldn't use it unless you really need to, or you're attempting the flight mode." Raven blinked,

"Flight mode?" Yusei chuckled,

"Crow can teach you that another time, for now just stay away from those buttons, and they're different colors so you don't get confused; red for the claw and blue for the wings." She fidgeted with her hair, nervous at the thought of her runner actually doing something else insane, she'd had enough of _that_ today to last her a lifetime.

"Crow looks like it's you buddy, good luck." Yusei smirked at him, placing a small square package in his hand before both he and Akiza sped off, leaving the two boys blushing furiously and Raven very confused. She wanted to see what it was but the red head quickly shoved it in his pocket.

"Alright whatever, but what about Raven, it's getting too cold for her." It wasn't until he said something that she noticed her own shivering, 'That can't be helping my ribs either.' As a wave of pain shot up from her side, she smiled through it though.

"I can just head back on my own, it's not too far right?" she thought back and wasn't surprised she couldn't remember the route they had taken. Crow seemed to consider this for a second; she could practically see the worry floating off him.

"I'll be fine! Really! What trouble could I possibly get in just going back to your house?" Raven sweat dropped as she realized that was the wrong question to ask; instead she grasped his hand in her own and squeezes it tightly smiling up at him.

"I have my deck and my shiny new duel runner, thanks to you all. Plus I have my phone so if I do happen to get in any trouble I will call you right away."

"But what if you…" Raven chuckled and poked his cheek.

"I'm a big girl Crow; tie my own shoes and everything!" The red head smiled chuckling at her joke.

"Alright, I should be back there in about an hour." He pointed to a highway in the distance, "Just follow that until you reach the blue exit and keep going straight, if you hit Martha's you've gone too far, the spare key is velcro'ed on the wall by the garage door." Raven memorized that and nodded as she handed him his helmet before slipping on her own.

"See you tomorrow Raven!" Bruno said as he climbed into the Taxi leaving the two of them alone, they didn't speak as they stared at one another, the snow falling softly around them with the sound of cars passing by in the distance.

Raven stuffed the plush bird inside her jacket to keep from falling out and blushed as she realized that he had he moved closer, softly pressing his lips against her own the rings on his headband hitting the visor of her helmet. Giggling she started her runner; he lightly tapped her helmet to get her attention.

"By the way, those pain pills are on my dresser. You should take one when you get back." Her eyes widened, 'he caught me…'

"S-Sorry…I didn't want to ruin the good mood everyone was in. It seems like all you guys do is worry about me, I feel bad." She looked at the ground as she said this, he just tapped her helmet again, his hand on his hip.

"We worry because we care Raven; it's not a bad thing." He smiled and lightly shook her head, "Just take one when as soon as you get back and I will be there not long after. We can drink hot chocolate and watch a movie if you want!" she blinked,

"What's that?" he put a hand against his head and laughed,

"Just go, I will explain it too you when I get back." She smiled and moved her runner onto the street.

"Alright, but you also have to explain what 'sticking' is because I still have no idea." His stormy eyes widened as a bright red blush consumed his face making her giggle as she drove off.

~0~0~0~0~

Raven scrunched her nose as the icy air hit it, as she went she repeated the directions Crow gave her over and over in her head. Having finally made it onto the highway she was now following it just as he had instructed, 'though it is helpful that the exits are color coded too, especially in this storm."

She wiped her visor off again and hoped the exit was nearby, as her body had already gone numb from the wind chill alone. The storm had also, thankfully, cleared the roads of anyone stupid enough to actually drive through this.

At least, that's what she thought, until headlights lit up the area behind her and the sound of an engine reached her ears. 'Wait, isn't that coming up too fast for it to be a car?' her suspicions were confirmed as a black and blue D-wheel appeared next to her with the man from earlier riding it, only now that she got a better look at him it wasn't the same guy that Jack dueled before.

Her breath hitched as she saw his eyes. Eye's that would haunt her until the day she died, the cold blood red eyes of the man that would beat her senselessly every day of her life just for being a bit different.

"Isaac…" she breathed her heart pounding in her chest, as if hearing her voice through the wind he turned and smiled at her, Raven's stomach hit the pavement. Averting her eyes back to the road in front of her she saw her exit come up and accelerated down it, she knew she was probably going way over the speed limit even long after Isaac's runner had vanished from view.

Slamming on the breaks hard as she came to the garage and jumping off her frantically searched for the key and as Crow had instructed it was attached to the wall directly under the railing. Feeling beyond terrified she had to try twice to get it into the lock before it twisted and the large door opened.

As she wheeled her runner inside she pressed the button that would close it behind her, as she stood there anxiously the door not closing fast enough for her. When _finally_ it shut and locked the dark haired girl ran frantically around the place turning on every light switch she could find before collapsing against the railing on the second floor.

A floor of tears gushed down her cheeks, her mind unable to deny who she had seen, even as her frozen clothes chilled her to the bone Raven still didn't move, she doubted she could with how badly she was shaking. So there she sat, just trying to calm her own mind down enough to actually _think, _she vaguely wondered why her powers hadn't started acting up.

When her breathing finally slowed and the tears had stopped she heard the garage door begin opening and realized Crow was back. Quickly getting up she ran into his room and slammed the door behind her, hoping the red head hadn't seen her.

Raven heard the engine cut off and his boots hit the floor followed by the rustling of his jacket, then only the sound of his boots hitting the stone floor could be heard as he walked around the bottom floor. 'I-Is he looking for something?' she thought and realized belatedly that it was _her_ he was probably looking for.

"Raven, are you upstairs?" he called out, his voice sounding confused with a hint of worry. Cracking open the door a bit she replied, "Y-Yes!" she bit her lip at her own stuttering voice.

"Oh! I'm glad you made it home okay; the snow's gotten pretty bad. What are you doing up there?" frowning her mind raced to come up with a logical explanation; "I-I just got back not that long ago…so I came up here to change into dry clothes."

'It's not really a lie…just an omission of facts.' That's what she told herself yet she knew it wasn't true. The red head's chuckle brought her back, "You got lost anyway didn't you? Do you mind if I shower real quick to get warmed up before the movie?"

"S-Sure, no problem…should I do something while you're in there?" she asked only because the movies she had seen with her parents when she was younger required her to help her father set up a projector. "Just pick a movie, we don't have much though. Do you need me to bring you up your bag? It's still down here."

She slapped her palm to her forehead, having forgotten that was still down there. "Yes please…Sorry for the trouble." She heard him run up the stairs and quickly place the bag in front of the door.

"Ahhh I'm freezing! I'll be out in a bit!" and with that she heard him walk into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Only when the sound of water filled the silence did she venture out and pull the duffle bag into the room with her.

Sighing she placed the bag on the bed and began rummaging through it, 'I wonder if I should tell Crow about _him_?' she thought back to how the last couple of days went and although they all seemed to not mind the trouble she brought with her, _she_ felt bad. Especially suddenly relying on people she just barely met, she frowned at that thought as she pulled out a pair of black sweats with 'A&F' on the top of the right leg and what Akiza had called a sports bra.

'I want to continue being friends with them…but having to continuously rely on them and put so much trouble on their shoulders, it isn't fair to them. Especially with their…oh what was it called…PG competition thing coming up. I don't want to hinder their dreams in any way…no! I will handle this on my own, I've been…'

What? Strong enough? Weak enough? Cowardly? She wasn't sure how to finish that sentence at this point; all she knew was that it was enough to keep her going up until now. She changed into this and feeling embarrassed having so much of her mid drift showing put on the orange sweater Bruno had given her to wear before.

'I won't say anything…I will just find some way to deal with Isaac if I see him again, though I truly hope I don't.' wrapping her arms around herself she made this decision though deep down she wondered if it was the right one.

* * *

_**Ooooh a blast from the past! I hope this chapter was okay, I tried to add the song in tastefully but let me know if i can do it better. The song was 'A Thousand Years, by Christina Perri' *Cough Which i also DO NOT own cough* Anyway! Please review with any thoughts or opinions! **_

_**Till next itme! :3**_


	18. Of Singing Birds and Raging Hormones

_**Gahhh I'm so sorry! I really meant to update on time this week, but work got stressful and I caught a cold to boot! So whenever i was home i was downing cold medicine and being miserable or sleeping. I do hope you'll forgive the lateness! Please blame it on my poor immune system! :P **_

_**Anyway! I can't really explain how much a I love all my reviewers from the last chapter; FiringShootingStar, Scarlett Wolf, and Magdalene Thorne. You all are super duper ever so awesomely amazing! I hope you'll continue to read my story!  
**_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh 5Ds I wouldn't have to work and be miserable all the time, however I do own the plot of this story and all my OC's. **_

* * *

Not long after as Raven sat downstairs she heard Crow's bedroom door open, they had both realized he hadn't taken any change of clothes in the bathroom with him. After said realization and the sound of the water turning off the girl had make a quick B line down the stairs and pretended she didn't hear the red head's bare feet slap against the stone hallway and the sound of his door shutting.

Busying herself with swallowing one of the blue and red pills Doctor Schmidt had given her for her ribs, with a glass of water before sitting quietly down on the sofa, the plush bird she had yet to name against her chest her knees locking it in place as she pulled them toward her.

It was silent except for the muted sound of Crow in his room and the wind outside, not particularly enjoying the silence Raven got up again and spotting her messenger bag by the stairs dug out her sketch pad and a pencil and began touching up her latest pictures; adding shadow, redrawing faded lines and even starting outlines for new drawings of things she saw at the festival.

Finally she turned back to her picture of Crow, which she had avoided purposely. Other than a few touch ups here and there it was still in good condition and held all the beauty from the moment she drew it, she smiled at the memory and then blushed at how much things had changed since that moment.

"Wow that turned out great! Almost makes me look handsome!" the pencil flew out of her hand as she jumped, turning she noticed Crow standing behind her leaning over the back of the couch and rubbing a towel over his wet hair. She could smell the spicy scent of his body wash as he stared at the picture in her lap, she could even feel the warm steam that rose off his body. Not realizing how close she was getting she jumped when he spoke again,

"Do you really think I look like this?" his voice sounded truly disbelieving and she could see the slight blush on his face as he stared at her, she nodding blushing down at the picture as a small smile touched her lips.

"Of course, when I first saw you in the park playing with all the children the first thing that came to mind was…" here she blushed a bright red but forced herself to continue,

"H-How beautiful you were, e-especially with those marks on your f-face…T-Those are m-my favorite parts of your face…a-among other things as well…" she probably looked like a tomato by the time she finished.

Slowly moving her head upwards to look at the red head, pale blue eyes widened as she realized he wasn't standing there anymore. Confused she twisted in around until a voice spoke up from directly to her right,

"Raven!" The dark haired girl jumped and turning her head quickly in that direction she was tackled onto her back, the sketchpad landing on the floor in front of them and Crow smiling happily as he straddled her waist. Here she finally got a look at him; wearing a white sleeveless hooded shirt and a pair of loose green sweat pants.

His hair was still damp in places and hung down randomly over his face without his headband, though even without it his hair seemed to still stand on its own against gravity. She wondered idly as she stared up at him if it did it naturally, but that thought was quickly swept away as he leaned down pressing both of his gloveless hands on her cheeks and capturing her lips with his own.

Raven responded slowly, loving the feel of his tongue sweeping across her bottom lip. She ran her hands up his arms, feeling the ridged muscle beneath her finger tips expand and contract as he leaned over. Tentively parting her lips she gasped, balling the fabric of his shirt over his shoulders, his wet muscle diving into her and tangling with her own.

A warm hand slowly slid down from her cheek to her neck, rubbing small circles as it continued downward, though she paid little mind to it as the feeling of his mouth on her own sent shivers down her spine, so when that very same hand slid directly over her chest did she inhale sharply, he chuckled against her mouth as he gave it a gentle squeeze before continuing its trek.

Pecking her lips one more time he moved downward placing small kisses on her cheek and chin before coming to rest on her neck, blushing furiously as even the feel of his hair tickling her face sent pleasant waves down her body, though not as much as what his hands seemed to be doing as she felt them reach the hem of her sweater, her eyes widened.

"C-Crow…" her voice trembled terribly as it came out no louder than a whisper; the red head nipped her neck in response sending a sharp feeling down her body where it pooled at her core. Moaning loudly she arched her back and felt the warmth of his hands on her stomach without the cover of her sweater.

'W-What is he doing?' Her eyes widened as she felt something hard press against her thigh, 'H-He can't want too…' her thoughts proved right as the sweater moved upward while his hand came to rest _down there_.

Heart beat shooting through the roof she struggled to find her voice, to find someway to tell him, pale blue eyes welled up with tears her voice coming out as a small whisper;

"_Stop._"

* * *

Crow, carried away on the high of passion and happiness moved almost on instinct. His hands sliding under her shirt as if they had a mind of their own, a vague part of him warned him this might be asking for too much too soon, but was drowned out by the wondrous sound of her voice and the way her body responded to him.

His body moved on its own, prepared to give this sweet girl ecstasy beyond her wildest dreams, that he barely noticed her body suddenly tense or even how her voice seemed to tremble, not with passion but with fear as she struggled to speak.

When she did speak however it completely shattered the haze he was in and he realized the reality of the situation; quickly jumping off the couch the red head backed up until he hit the coffee table which he slowly lowered himself down on as he saw the tears in her eyes and how her body shook, but he could still see worry in her eyes.

The damned worry not for herself, but for him, as her pale blue eyes locked on his.

"R-Raven…damn it!" he buried his head in his hands, hating himself for getting so carried away. He heard the shuffling of fabric but couldn't bear to look at her,

"I'm so sorry…I should have known…I'm sorry…" once again he had gotten too carried away with his own feelings that he hurt her, he was so stupid! 'I should have stopped sooner or at least looked up! Or-' but the thought was cut off as arms wrapped around his head.

"Shhh Crow…It's alright." Her voice was thick with emotion as she spoke, resting her head against his own she continued. "Please understand…I-It's not as if I don't _want_ you like that its just that…" she sighed, "We were always taught that when we were to give ourselves to another _that_ way it was only for the purpose of bearing children."

His eyes widened, 'She was scared because she doesn't want to get pregnant? Not because I pushed her?' her voice pulled him from his thoughts, "B-But I w-would like too…you know…but only when we know each other better a-and I'm not such a coward."

Crow couldn't stop the wave of relief that washed over him as he wrapped his arms around her waist and burying his face in her stomach placing light kisses everywhere, he chuckled at her squeak.

"I don't mind if we take our time, because I'm all yours if you're all mine." It was a cheesy line even for him, but as he looked up into that beautiful face and saw her smile before a giggle erupted from it, she almost seemed to glow with happiness. He smiled as his hands rubbed lightly over her sides as he stood up, he didn't actually notice till now; but it was weird being taller than someone.

The kids he took care of and the twins aside, he was usually the shortest of the trio and while most of the time it didn't really bother him there were times we wished he would get just a bit taller. But right at this moment, being able to look down into her face and watch her admire his own, she had some fascination with his markers which was cute since most people hated him because he had so many; it made him glad he was the size he was.

But now that he looked at her face closely he noticed the corners of her eyes were red, like she had been crying for a long time. Frowning slightly he wondered if she had been, 'Hmm maybe it was just the cold, she's probably not used to it yet.' Smiling widely he squished both her cheeks,

"I promised you a movie and hot chocolate didn't I?" She blushed, making his heart jump a beat, and nodded. Chuckling he pointed her toward the T.V. with the little cupboard underneath, "That's where we keep the flicks, we don't have much and I'm pretty sure a lot of it is Jacks duels from a while ago but you go pick one and I will work on the drinks."

With that he stepped around her and walked toward the kitchen, her voice making him stop and turn;

"Y-You also promised to tell me what that…s-sticking was." He smirked, 'By the look on your face I'm sure you've already figured it out…but…' He smiled devilishly,

"Exactly what we were doing before." Crow held back a chuckle as her face turned a bright shade of red, he could almost see the steam coming out of her ears from her embarrassment.

* * *

In the end, after sorting through many movies, all of which Raven had never even heard of she decided on a movie called, 'Happy Feet.' The story being about some strange black and white, flightless birds who apparently could speak and sing and even dance, though Crow assured her they didn't actually do that, it made her wonder why they would make such an absurd movie.

Having drank an entire cup of hot chocolate, which to her surprise was amazing, they were now comfortably snuggled together; Crow stretched out beside her his legs resting on top of the coffee table with one arm hanging off the arm rest and the other slung over her shoulders, while she leaned up against his shoulder legs draped over his lap and feet buried in the cushions to ward off the cold.

Raven was fascinated with the movie at the moment and absolutely adored the songs; she couldn't even imagine Jack or Yusei watching this with a straight face, the thought alone made her laugh.

The screen turned black and a bunch of words showed up on the screen, assuming it was over pale blue eyes slid upwards toward the red head, his head leaned all the way back with soft snores coming from his open mouth. Smiling she shifted off of the couch and stretched her arms and grabbing the small rectangle from the table she pushed the square button and the screen turned a blue color.

'Hmm…now what to do with him...' she leaned up close and lightly poked his cheek, earning nothing more than a grumble from him. Sighing she remembered something and pointed her index finger toward him; his body was pulled into the air and turned so that when she set him down a second later he laid vertically across the couch.

She blew out a breath, 'Whew…haven't done that in a while.' Her eyes widened as he spoke, "Jack you….idiot…get a job…" giggling softly she pulled the blanket from the back of the furniture and draping it over him; she sat on the floor and turned to the little T.V.

"How the heck do you turn this off?" she stared at the little rectangle in her hand hoping it would give her some answers, Sadly the words were faded and the ones that weren't were letters and numbers.

"Well might as well just push one and see what happens." She yawned, pushing the two button she jumped as a woman with long blonde hair and a red jacket. In the far right corner it said, "Satellite Flu epidemic?" feeling guilt rise inside her she continued watching;

"The latest number of infected has increased has more than doubled since the last count, all the victims are from different sectors of the city and seemingly have nothing in common with one another. Though city officials are looking into where the outbreak would have started but at the moment there are no leads, while doctors work tirelessly to find a combination of medicine that will counter act the crippling effects of the latest symptom.

This reporter went on scene to the hospital that received the short lived 'cure' and interviewed one of the doctors." Here the scene changed to one of the hospital that she had left her medicine at, the blonde woman spoke to a man with short black hair and rectangle glasses that sat far down on his nose.

"Doctor Smith can you please tell our viewers the newest development in the Satellite flu epidemic?" he cleared his throat and straightened his crooked tie, he looked tired as he spoke;

"This disease is very resilient to any medication prescribed to fight against it, the very nature of it seems to learn faster than we can. Many of the previous patients who've come in with this string of virus have been quarantined though as of now have developed a strange purple rash over their bodies. Everyone in both Satellite and Neo Domino city would be advised to stay away from anyone displaying sudden high temperatures and bodily weakness." The blonde woman nodded,

"And what about the mysterious girl that was seen carrying the supposed 'cure' into this very hospital?" Dr. Smith sighed,

"As of right now she has not been identified, though from the contents of the elixir she gave us it is safe to assume that we have a healer from Alturas here in the city."

Raven's blood ran cold, 'T-That's impossible…I turned the camera's so they didn't see me! I was sure…' he thoughts trailed off as the woman continued.

"I see! And do you believe that this mysterious girl may hold the key to curing this outbreak?" she seemed generally excited, like a starving dog being given a bone.

"At this point Ms. Angela we can only speculate, but from what is known of her people they are extremely knowledgeable in medicine and have been known to do what modern medicine hasn't, but as I said before this is only speculation." The blonde, Angela, nodded and turned back toward the camera.

"Well you heard it here ladies and gentleman, but fear not your faithful reporter will get the scoop on this mysterious girl and keep you all updated on any new updates for this terrible illness."

~0~0~0~

After watching it move on to some scores from a sport event, Raven finally found the button to turn the annoying thing off, but as the room was thrown into pitch darkness her mind paid little attention to it. It was everywhere at once; thinking about the Satellite Flu, the reporter who had vowed to find her, her father, Pandora…

Determined not to cry about this she stood up and tried to think logically, 'I couldn't even begin to research this without that reporter catching on…that's it! Dr. Schmidt must have taken blood samples from the children when they were sick so I can ask him. But the problem would be the research behind it, without that having that sample would be useless, though I doubt Wulf would just hand it over since it's the reason…' She couldn't finish that thought; the very idea of her being a lab rat still hadn't really sunk in.

Shaking her head again she stood up and walked into the kitchen, and sitting at the little table. 'I can't be a coward anymore, I can't run anymore…' she stared at the back of the couch where Crow's snoring could still be heard, 'But do I have the strength to protect him? Or any of them for that matter? I don't exactly have a good track record for that.'

Memories of the flames that engulfed her house and her parents flashed before her eyes but she shook them away, 'But If I tell them about what _he_ said to me at the place with the fish.' She could already feel the bump on her head for when Jack wacked her for keeping this a secret.

'It wasn't really a secret though…just something I conveniently forgot about…' She groaned as she laid her head against the table top.

"Who am I kidding? Jack would never go for that, I might as well just let him hit me before hand." Feeling a throb in her head she decided to put the matter to rest for now as she looked at the clock, 2 A.M. on the dot. 'I've never stayed up this late before….yet I couldn't even begin to sleep now.' Looking at the TV again she remembered the discs with Jacks previous duels on them and began to get curious.

* * *

The blonde duelist drove slowly through the garage door a yawn escaping his mouth,

"That girl, kicking a king out this early is treasonous." He grumbled not for the first time, a more logical part of him argued that it couldn't have been helped. Carly had to go to a meeting with some doll collecting dork that apparently had a scoop on some person the entire media community was looking for.

'Nonsense! They should be looking at me, what could be more important than that?' as the door closed behind him he slid off his runner and stopped, 'Why the duce do I hear myself talking?'

Turning he saw Crow spread out on the couch his mouth hanging open and a line of drool coming down the side of his face; his snoring was loud but not loud enough to drown out his own disembodied voice.

As he walked past the sleeping dolt he noticed the TV was moved and pulled over in front of the wall, there he found Raven. Passed out on the ground, blankets wrapped tightly around head and body her hand still clutching tightly to a pencil and an open notebook next to her.

Playing on the screen in front of her was a copy of one of his previous duels, while he was still king. The blonde didn't really recall this particular duel but knowing he had won anyway made him reach over and turn off the screen. Raven's voice startled him;

"Big brother Jack…so cool…" he smirked, 'Is she _just_ realizing this?' he leaned down and stared at her wondering if he should wake her up, his stomach growled and he had to hold back a chuckle as her own stomach growled in return making her scrunch her face.

Lightly taking hold of her shoulder he shook it,

"Ra-v-e-n…you're king is hungry!" She groaned and slid the hand holding the pencil to her face, Jack's reflexes were faster however as he yanked the pencil out of her hand before she could stab her eye with it. Bleary blue eyes opened a slit,

"J-ahhh-ck" letting out a small yawn she sat up, continuing to rub her tired looking eyes. She smiled slightly,

"Welcome back, how was your night?" she held that strange stuffed bird Crow had won for her and had lines across her cheek from sleeping on the floor, and he glared at them and proceeded to rub her cheek to get rid of them.

"Uwahh! Jack!" she giggled a sound that brought a small smile to his lips. When he had successfully ridden her face of those marks he stood up,

"Go get ready, I'm hungry and we don't have anything good to eat." She blinked unsure, crossing his arms he continued, "So thus I have decided you will buy me breakfast and _maybe_ you will get the privilege of spending the day with the Great Jack Atlas as he attempts to look for a job, which of course you will be looking also!" Raven blinked,

"Why do i need one of those?" Jack crossed his arms over his chest,

"To be productive if nothing else!" Jack decided he might as well get two birds with one stone, plus the smile that lit up her face was well worth it as she nodded and quickly made her way up the stairs. As the bathroom door closed he glanced at the still sleeping Crow, noticing the notebook Raven had left in her place he picked it up staring at the random notes taken there, most of them about Turbo Dueling with random questions written on the side; "How do you control the bike? Auto pilot….can it be turned off? Are there restricted cards? What are speed counters? Like money but for cards?" a little confused face was by this question, the blonde however not too concerned about this passed it off as he tossed it on the coffee table and walked up stairs.

* * *

_**Ahhh and this is where I've left off! I've watched Happy feet so many times that I might as well have it memorized word for word, plus i thought it would be funny if they owned the movie! XD Anywho! Please Review with any questions, comments, or just any thoughts you might be having! **_

_**Till next time! :3**_


	19. Morning Adventures

**AHHH! I was so determined this week to update on time! Gah, I do hope you all will forgive me! ;A; ** _**Anywho! I'd like to thank all my lovely reviewers; Scarlett Wolf, Magdalene Thorne, FiringShootingStar and my newest reviwers; YugiohObsessed, and JuneGilbertVivianRaeven! You're reviews are amazing as ever! **_

_**Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh 5D's I would probably update on time. :/**_

* * *

Raven yawned for the billionth time that morning as she stepped out of the bathroom, she wore a dark purple hooded knit sweater with a black turtle neck underneath with some matching skinny jeans and some knee high flat black boots with orange bows on the sides. The dark haired girl absolutely adored these as they were fluffy inside and made her feet very toasty.

As she came back down the stairs she noticed Jack wasn't there, assuming he was in his room she turned her attention to the snoring red head. Coming around to the front of the couch she saw he had cocooned himself into the blankets except his entire torso hung out of the as he curled unsuccessfully toward the warmth.

Smirking she walked over and carefully laid the blanket she was using previously over him tucking it under him, suppressing a giggle as he buried his face in it and sighed in content.

Hearing Jack walk down the steps she softly ran her fingers through Crow's red locks, she was always amazed how soft they felt despite how he wore his hair. The blonde strode past her; she could almost feel his hunger and decided to part with the man in front of her. Leaning upward she spoke softly in his ear,

"Crow…" he grumbled something and scratched at his ear, the action resembling more of a cat then a bird. "I'm going out with Jack for a while. Do you have to work?" grumbling a reply that vaguely resembled a "Yes." She smiled.

"Alright, I'll bring you back something good to eat okay?" he nodded and grumbled something she couldn't begin to make out before turning over and instantly falling back into slumber. She stood and after slipping on her orange scarf and some gloves headed over to her runner, a thought coming to mind making her stop and turn toward the desk.

~0~0~0~

A short time later, so short in fact she wondered why they had bothered taking their runners at all until she remembered who she was with, they arrived at a small place called Café Le Green. Raven remembered seeing this place in a magazine when she arrived; she _also_ remembered a particular drink they sell here and a certain blonde's affinity for it.

Sighing she pulled off her helmet and shook out her hair as she climbed off her runner following the white clad man inside the shop as it was both too cold to eat outside and many of the tables were covered with tarps to keep the snow off.

So when they took a seat at a nearby table by a window Raven wasn't at all surprised to hear Jack yell at a girl in a black and white dress with short brown hair, to bring him some Blue eyes mountain coffee before looking at her expectantly arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the back of the chair.

Raven floundered and quickly glanced at the menu, a lot of it had strange themed names but she was happy to see one thing she could get without too much confusion.

"I-I'll have the hot chocolate please…" the brown haired girl eyed her up and down a frown on her face as she stalked off behind the counter. Raven, confused, choose to ignore it and looked back at the blonde who stared out the window, 'Maybe I should start a conversation? But about what; as far as I know he likes Ramen, Dueling, and extremely expensive coffee.' She sighed internally.

Thankfully the brown haired girl came over and none too gently placed her beverage on the table before doing the same with Jack's cup, though, as Raven noticed, she did it much more gently. Turning a glare on her as she stalked off, 'Okay?'

Jack picked up his cup and saucer and took a drink; the elegance in which he did reminded her of the way a king would drink. Smiling she picked up her own drink and did the same, nearly choking on the liquid as his voice startled her;

"Explain why you were watching my duels and taking notes." She swallowed hard and blushed,

"Y-You saw that?" his piercing amethyst gaze and stony silence was more than a loud enough "Yes." Feeling both his own gaze and the girl behind the counters on her was more than enough to make her bow her head.

"I'm sorry…I just…_wanted to learn._" She whispered the last part. Raven could almost hear the gears turning inside Jack's head as he processed this before standing and slamming his hands down on the table.

"You ride a duel runner but you don't know how to _turbo duel?_! Are you an idiot?" She chooses not to answer as something told her he wasn't done, and how right she was;

"How is that even possible? Surely you've seen them where your from." She shook her head,

"Y-You're duel was my first…" The blonde sat back down and immediately the tension in the air evaporated as he took another drink of his coffee. Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding she did the same and carefully looked up at him,

"S-Sorry if you didn't want me to watch them… I won't do it again…" he scoffed,

"Nonsense! What better way than to learn from the king himself!" She blinked unsure,

"Jack, what-"she stopped talking as he pulled his deck from his coat and placing a card on the table,

"Dark resonator? That's a tuner monster right?" she looked up at him as he drank more of his coffee before placing the empty cup on the table and motioning for the brown haired girl to get it and bring more.

"Exactly! I, Jack Atlas, have decided to bestow my ultimate wisdom upon you." She could see the smirk on his lips and giggled saluting him,

"Yes! I will work hard my king!" his smirk turned into a full on smile as he nodded his head and they began, Raven memorizing everything he said.

* * *

Crow groaned as he heard the garage door open again, letting in not only what sounded like Bruno and Yusei, but the frigid air as well. Sitting up the red head rubbed at his tired eyes and yawned loudly, the two mechanics were talking about something when they turned toward him.

"Morning Crow, why are you sleeping down here?" Bruno asked, shaking the frost from his hair. The red head looked around confused, 'I remember watching Happy Feet then….oh I must have fallen asleep. I hope Raven was comfortable.' He yawned again before replying.

"Fell asleep watching a movie, Raven must have gone up stairs." He stood up and stretched and glanced at the time, still over 2 hours till he had to start work.

"Then I guess someone else took her runner if she's up there." Yusei said closing the garage door. Crow's steel colored eyes widened, he vaguely remembered hearing her say something to him but couldn't remember what it was.

"What's this?" Bruno's voice called from the computer; there on the screen a white piece of paper was stuck. The blue haired male removed it and unfolded it.

"'Dear whomever reads this; Just in case Crow didn't hear me, I'm going to breakfast with Jack I fear we're going to get that expensive coffee he seems so fond of. How about I make you all a nice dinner as thanks for yesterday?' It's signed by Raven." Yusei sighed as he sifted a bouquet of flowers in his arms,

"Her poor wallet, but I guess she's saving us money at the same time." Crow nodded and stared at the odd thing in his friends hands,

"Yo Yus, you gonna go all big bro on my girl now too or are you trying to make a statement?" The male stared at the bouquet,

"I just found these outside, maybe someone dropped them?" Crow shrugged, the flowers were all red except for a single black flower directly in the middle. He smirked,

"Maybe you could give them Akiza as thanks for last night?" Yusei rolled his eyes at the red heads suggestive tone. Bruno blushed,

"Crow that's so lewd." He chuckled,

"Kidding, kidding!" Yusei placed the flowers on the table and smirked;

"Besides you probably did more than any of us." He groaned as he remembered last night and what he _attempted_, that being the relative word. The dark haired male raised a brow,

"You two didn't fight again did you?" shaking his head he sat back on the couch, Yusei's deep blue eyes stared down at him as they flickered, something they did when he found a solution to a problem.

"You didn't do it did you?" Crow figured silence was the best answer in this case; Yusei smirked and patted him on the shoulder.

"Good job, you must really like her if your willing to go _that_ far." Crow rolled his eyes, but he knew he was right, under normal circumstances he wouldn't have hesitated but with Raven it was…definitely different. Something about her gave him the strength to wait.

He sighed, deciding not to think too hard on it he got up and wandered up stairs.

* * *

Raven's head hurt.

No, not from all the chocolate she consumed or the constant glares sent by the girl behind the counter. But from all the _information_.

Jack was a strategist and apparently when he said 'bestow his wisdom' he meant _everything_. She leaned her head against the table as Jack finished off his last cup of coffee, she'd lost track of how many he had and eventually just accepted _a lot_ as a good number. Putting the plastic card that apparently held money on the table she sighed again,

"Don't be such a baby, we haven't even gotten to the actual dueling portion yet." Folding her arms under her head she nodded as she looked up at him as his words hit her,

"Wait! D-duel y-you?!" He nodded still not looking at her, instead choosing to stare outside; it was mostly gray cast and thankfully the snow hadn't made an appearance again.

"Under normal circumstances I wouldn't bother with a newbie such as yourself; however no sibling of Jack Atlas will be taught by anyone less than myself." Raven heard a gasp as the brown haired girl came to collect the check,

"Y-You're his sister?" she asked incredulously relief written all over her face, blushing she tried to figure out a way to explain this.

"Of course she is! Now don't you have a job to do?" Jack answered for her and pointed to the card sitting on the table.

The girl nodded and quickly picked up the card before running behind the counter again, Raven giggled,

"Big brother Jack is so cool." The blonde scoffed,

"Of course I am, and don't you ever forget it!" she nodded,

"Yes sir!" The blonde stood up suddenly, grabbing her arm and pulling her up with him,

"Come on! We're wasting time here! Time to start Jack Atlas's school for turbo dueling!" Her eyes were wide at the sudden action, but she could feel his excitement and let herself be dragged out of the café.

"W-Wait Jack! My card!" He didn't seem to even hear her at this point, "Jacccckkk!"

~0~0~0~

Raven slid her runner to stop and took her helmet off, shaking her bangs that were currently matted to her forehead due to all the sweat. She breathed hard and felt like her side was literally making it hard for her to breathe. They had gone to a local track that the Duel Academy used but with Jack's _insistence, _aka yelling until the poor man couldn't take it anymore, they allowed them to use it.

Jack's runner pulled up beside her, his smug smile still in place.

"That's 5 to 0 Raven, come on you've gotta try harder if you wanna beat me!" she sighed, 'I think with a track record like that I'd have better luck going against a snail.' Wiping the sweat that was coming down her forehead, she could feel the back of her shirt was soaked with the stuff and it took everything she had not to wrap an arm around her bruised side.

Luckily Jack was more concerned with her techniques than her physical well being, though it was hard for even her to ignore how much her hands shook from just the cold alone.

"I _won't _give up! Not until I get it!" it was unusual for her to yell like that but her frustration was starting to show. Jack smiled,

"Good! Now once m-"the sound of a D-Wheel passing quickly between them cut him off, the rider stopped a few feet in front of them. Raven couldn't believe what she was seeing; sitting in front of her was a simple black D-Wheel with some dark blue detailing, the design itself was simplistic but this wasn't what made her eyes widen and her breath catch in her throat.

Sitting on it was a man in an all black riding suit with a matching helmet, through his visor she could see piercing red eyes smiling knowingly at her as equally red hair sticking out of the back of his helmet.

"What the hell is your problem?! How dare you interrupt Jack Atlas! Who the duce are you?" The blonde sounded angry, but the man, Isaac just continued to smile at her. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage,

"Answer me damn you!"

"Heh, has the little lady not told you about me? Tsk tsk Raven, _that's _not very nice, especially after all we've been through." Hearing his voice alone made her entire body shake in fear,

"Raven, what the hell? Who is this nobody?" Jack's voice broke her from her haze of fear and she looked away from him, choosing to stare instead at her runner, but she couldn't say his name.

"Hmm…I see you didn't get my present I left you." She could feel him smile again and closed her eyes,

"Well no matter, you're Jack Atlas right? My name is Isaac Reynolds, and I'm here to challenge her to a duel." Raven gasped,

"W-What for?!" the fear showed in her voice,

"Easy, I want my play thing back. Of course, if you refuse I can always take a shot at your _friend_ here." The way he said the word reminded her of the way he would talk about her, it sparked a strange feeling inside of her, like a small fire had been ignited.

"Jack Atlas never turns down a challenge! Let's do th-"He was cut off by Raven yelling his name.

"He issued the challenge to me, I'll take him on." Her voice was hard and she was relieved that she didn't stutter like usual, she stared into the blonde's amethyst eyes. After a time Jack nodded,

"Very well! But don't you dare lose!" She smiled but choose not to respond, as she placed her helmet back on her head. 'Sorry Jack, I can't promise that. Not against _him._'

As they sat side by side on their runners Raven's heart beat heavily against her chest, she was scarred yes, but she was also terrified at the idea of him facing any of her friends. 'No, I've gotta be brave here. I can allow them to come in contact with Isaac, not after he did this…' she lightly touched one of the marks on her arm.

Isaac smiled as he watched her; she narrowed her eyes in turn.

"Let's do this Isaac." She said as she revved her runner, Isaac did the same.

"So eager today, don't tell me you actually think you can win against me?"

The count down began on the screen above them, as the clock reached 0 they took off down the track, Jack following behind them.

"Ladies first." Isaac said mockingly, she nodded but took her turn as speed world 2 activated along with autopilot.

"You're loss Isaac!" she drew her first card and looking at her hand she nodded,

"First I'll use the effect of my Armed Dragon Lvl 3 that allows me to send it directly from my hand to the grave so I can summon in its place; Armed Dragon Lvl 5!" A red dragon with black spiked armor appeared in front of her,

"Then I place two cards face down and end my turn! Show me what you've got Isaac." The red haired male smirked,

"I'll start off by summoning my Aurkus, the Lightsworn Druid in Attack mode." A man in all white robes with slicked back white hair appeared on the field with 1200 attack points and 1800 defense points. The monster sent shivers down her spine,

"Then I'll play the spell Solar Recharge! Now if I discard a monster from my hand with 'Lightsworn" in its name, I can draw two cards from the top of my deck. The only downside is I also have to send two more cards to the grave from it as well. But it's a price well worth paying for you."

Raven glared at him, 'He's going to summon _that_ at some point, and in order to do it he needs certain cards in the grave. I've gotta take him out before he gets that chance.' She glanced at the blonde following behind her, watching their duel with interest.

"Then I'll end my turn by placing one card face down, you're up little sinner girl." Raven choose to ignore that comment,

"Fine, I'll start off by activating my spell card Acceleration Limiter's effect! Now in case you haven't been paying attention to our speed counters we each have 3, but thanks to this card _you_ won't be playing any speed spells for the next two turns." Isaac's blood red eyes glared at her,

"Don't think that will stop me for long." 'Actually its only to give me more time to summon my own monster. _He's_ the one of the only cards who can actually beat him. I just need to draw him.' She thought as she looked at her hand again, so far it was pretty good, apparently her monsters wanted at him as much as she did right now.

Voices cheering her name as they came up on the stands shook her from her thoughts, her eyes widened, she wanted to call out to find some way to tell them not to be there, but even she knew it was too late, Isaac had seen. And as he smiled widely she could see, _he knew._

* * *

_**Dun dun duunnnn! Show down between Isaac and Raven! Who will win? Uhh I'm really not sure what to say today sooo...Please Review with any thoughts or opinions! **__  
_

_**Till next time! :3**_


	20. Crimson Crash

_**Oh gosh, so so sorry about the major delay! I got into a car accident and just barely got out of the hospital. :/ BUT! I made it back just before Christmas so why don't we consider this a "Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays" Present? Kay? Kay. As usual I would like to thank my ever so lovely and amazing reviewers; Magdalene Thorne, mcoyne, FiringShootingStar, JuneGilbertVivianRaeven, and my ever so mysterious guest reviewers! I'm so happy you all are enjoying this story! **_

_**Disclaimer: Yeah, still don't own Yugioh 5Ds. **_

* * *

Crow had been doing his morning rounds and as he stopped at the Duel Academy, one of the teachers had ordered a new computer and thanks to Akiza's recommendation he was asked to deliver it. He ignored the stares as he walked through the halls, having accomplished his quota for the day the red head duelist was more excited to get home and see Raven.

'It's weird looking forward to seeing someone, especially a _girl_ someone. But it's also kinda nice too, I'm sure with her in the pit with us we can win the WRGP.' He blushed as images of her in a cheerleading outfit came to mind, he quickly shook his head. 'Behave Crow!'

That's he heard a couple of the students gossiping, under normal circumstances he would have ignored it but when he heard the name "Jack Atlas" he decided to become very fascinated in some posters advertising the WRPG.

"_The_ Jack Atlas is on our course? What for?" one of the boys asked disbelievingly, which was true, Jack would never come to this course, it was as he put it "Not dignified enough for me." 'Whatever the heck that means.'

The kids continued, "I have no idea, my friend from class said it looked like he was dueling some girl."

"Ehh? Seriously?!" Crow could hear the surprise in his voice, as his friend continued.

"Yeah but the weird part is even after she lost the first duel they just kept going, even though she kept getting creamed by him."

"You don't think she's his student or something right?" the kids laughed and shouted their "No ways" before walking off. 'Jack didn't really take her here to turbo duel did he?' when Crow really thought about it though, it _was_ something Jack would do.

He sighed and decided to go take a look; he hadn't seen her Turbo Duel and was curious. As he made his way down he found Akiza, Leo and Luna heading in the same direction. As they made their way down he stopped by a window that looked out on the stadium; Raven and Jack were sitting there, but they were talking with a third person, Crow couldn't explain it, but something told him that was _not _a person he wanted her to duel.

When the purple runner lined up with the other man's he felt a sense of urgency and quickly turned running down the halls to get there.

~0~0~0~

It seemed to take forever to get to the stands and as the four of them climbed down the stairs Crow saw the duelists were about to pass them. Leo getting excited to see her Turbo Duel ran down the remaining stairs, cheering her name.

Raven was in the middle of her turn when she glanced up, and instead of smiling she looked almost…scared. And looking at her opponent he could see why, the man smiled widely at them, reminding the red head of a cat he'd seen back in Satellite that finally found a mouse to hunt.

Crow saw Jack following behind them, a frown on his face as he past. "Jack! What the hell man?!" the blonde either didn't hear him or choose to ignore him, though he supposed it was the former.

"I don't like the feel of that guy she's dueling. He seems…I don't know how to explain it; like there's a deep darkness inside of him that's going to swallow her up." Akiza's voice was grave, but it validated what he felt when he first saw him.

"I sense it too Akiza…you don't think he's from Pandora do you?!" Luna sounded frightened but neither of them could say just where this man had come from. Leo looked confused but turned back to the duel, "You guys worry too much!"

Crow hoped that's _all _it was as Raven continued her turn; "I'll summon my friend Red-Eyes Black Chick in attack mode! But don't think he's sticking around for long because I'm using his ability to send him directly to the grave to summon out my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

True to its name a black dragon appeared next to her previous dragon, its eyes were a crimson red as it roared out. 'So far she seems to have this handled, maybe we were just over reacting?'

"Next I'll use my newly awakened dragon to attack your Aurkus! Go Inferno Fire Blast!" The dragon opened its mouth wide as a ball of energy formed, whipping its head back it sent the attack, engulfing the man's monster, it let out a yell before vanishing and depleting his lifepoints down to 2800.

"Now to finish off this turn I'll use the effect of my Armed Dragon Lvl 5 to bring out the amazing Armed Dragon Lvl 7!" The medium sized dragon vanished into a bright light as a larger scarier version of that card came onto the field, sporting an impressive 2800 attack points. "That's it for now Isaac, its your move."

The man smirked mockingly, "So you really aren't planning on bringing _that_ monster out are you?" Crow winced as his mark began to glow and burn, "I don't need him to take you down!"

As he watched on the screen he noticed her own back was beginning to glow faintly, she clutched at her shoulder painfully. 'What is he talking about? What card does he want her to summon?'

Isaac shook his head as he drew a card, "Even without my Aurkus I can still beat you hands down, here let me show you; first I'll summon my Lumia, Lightsworn Summoner in attack mode!" A dark skinned girl in pure white and gold robes jumped onto the field with 1000 attack points and 1000 defense points.

"And thanks to the effect of my Wulf, Lightsworn Beast in my grave I can summon him straight from my graveyard as long as there is a monster with the name 'Lightsworn' on my side of the field, come join this little party my beast!" A large muscled Wulf man thing howled loudly as it came to the field, wielding a golden axe and 2100 attack points.

Isaac seemed to consider his next move; "Sadly thanks to your damned Acceleration Limiter's effect I cannot play any speed spells, nor can my monsters attack yours. So I think I will just end my turn now."

Raven nodded and drew her card, but Isaac interrupted her; "So are those people your _friends_?" she didn't reply, but even Crow could see her shaking horribly. "They do know you're life is a sin against our laws right?" his eyes widened, 'Don't tell me he's from...'

Isaac laughed, "Or how it was _your_ fault your parent's suffered and died? From the day your cursed powers awakened _they_ suffered the most, but we being merciful people _tried_ to help you with our purification." He sighed, "It's too bad really, those two were foolish enough to protect you and even provide an escape! Now look at you, hanging around people and passing your disgusting life away in this city, and look what's happened? The people here are now suffering for your selfishness!"

Crow clenched his fists hard, Raven just stared down at her runner, the card she just drew shaking luckily Jack spoke up now; "What rubbish are you talking about? Raven didn't _cause_ any of that to happen! She came here looking for happiness and _that_ is in no way selfish!"

Crow sighed, 'Great…now I owe him for that.' "Yeah! We're happy to have her in our lives!" Leo yelled, "Don't listen to him Raven! Nothing that's happened is your fault!" Luna joined in.

"Believe in yourself Raven! We'll always have your back!" Akiza shouted, Crow smirked and as they passed by again he yelled; "WIPE THE FLOOR WITH THIS ASSHOLE SO WE CAN GO HOME!"

She stared wide eyed at them and smiled, he vaguely noticed how drenched in sweat she was, but passed it off as Isaac started laughing, loudly. "Oh my! Well it seems you've cast an enchantment on them sinner girl! I'd be happy to _purify_ them after I'm finished with you."

'Purify?' but his question was swept away as a large red glow encompassed Raven's body, her once pale blue eyes now shining a bright yellow. Their marks burned, he could feel her anger as on her back the complete mark of the Crimson Dragon appeared. When she spoke though it was a mix of her own voice and someone else's, a deeper older voice;

"_You touch them and I swear I will end you, you worm! I'll protect them with my life! Now on with my turn so that I can finish you! Since I have 5 speed counters I'll play the speed spell Call of the Red-Eyes, with this I pay 3 of my speed counters to call any card from my deck with Red-Eyes in its name and I choose my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon! And thanks to its ability I can send the Red-Eyes on my field to summon him straight from my hand."_

Black smoke rose between them as a black dragon with orange jewels on its wings appeared on the field, its roar seemed to shake the very ground and when a window broke behind them he remembered she was a psychic duelist, so everything was _real_!

He ran up to the edge of the track and jumped down to the sidelines, "Raven! You gotta calm down! You're powers going to go crazy if you don't!" she turned toward him as they passed, and placing a hand on her head she shook it.

Instantly the glow around her body vanished and her eyes returned to their normal color, "I refuse to act like the monster you're calling me!" she breathed hard, "Now…allow me to finish this; my Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon gets an extra 300 attack points for every dragon card in my grave, and since I have 3 he gets an grand total of 3300 attack points!"

The dragon roared again as its attack points increased and it seemed to grow in size, Crow smirked at her skill, 'You wouldn't think by just looking at her that she's this good, she might even give me a run for my money.'

"Now my dragon unleash your fury and attack his Wulf, Infernal Darkfire!" A blast of black fire hit Isaac's monster incinerating it on the spot and taking his lifepoints down too 1600.

Crow's heart beat in excitement, "Yeah! You got this duel in the bag Raven!"

* * *

'Yes! One more attack and he'll be gone for good!' Raven wiped the sweat from her face as she took heavy breathes, it was like there was water in lungs! But she couldn't focus on that right now, at this moment she _had_ to end this duel and send Isaac away before he could get to her friends.

"Now…I'll end this with my Armed Dragon Lvl 7, attack his Lumia with Dragon Sonic Sphere!" the metal armor her dragon wore began to spin and turn, the energy from this gathering around him. Roaring loudly it sent the attack toward his monster, Isaac laughed.

"I activate my Lightsworn Fairy's effect from the grave!" Her eyes widened, 'No! He can't!'

"This allows me to negate an attack on a Lightsworn monster and destroy the attacking monster!" Her dragon cried out as a bright light enveloped it and blew it off the field, "And that's not all; see when this monster's effect activates you end up taking all the damage I would have just taken!"

The light turned on her and she screamed as pain shot through her body, as it faded she slumped slightly against her runner, it was getting harder and harder to breathe and for some reason it was _hot_.

Her lifepoints dropped down to 2200, it took everything she had just to look at her hand but finding nothing she sat up, "I-I e-end my t-turn…" her voice was shaking horribly and she was sure if it wasn't for auto pilot she would be swerving badly.

"Raven! Are you alright?!" Jack rolled up next to her, worry in his amethyst eyes. Smiling slightly she gave him a weak thumbs up, Isaac sighed and she turned her attention back to him.

"It's too bad Raven, I was really hoping I didn't have to do this. But it seems your stubbornness has forced my hand, oh well." He smiled as he drew his card, Raven knew that smile it meant he was about to deal the finishing blow and it _would_ be crippling.

"I use the effect of my Judgment Dragon that I just drew, and the 4 Lightsworn cards in my grave to summon it straight from my hand!" The clouds parted as white light lit up the field, white feathers floated down as a piercing roar shook the air. A white feathered dragon glided down and landed beside Isaac's smiling form, its whiskers floating beside its head with 3000 attack points and 2600 defense points.

"And since your little spell card's effect has worn off I'm going to use these speed spells; Force Summon, now I can force you to summon out your Magna Drago." She gasped as the card in her hand played and a red scaled dragon appeared on the field.

"No! Stop!" she could feel her back beginning to burn again as her heart hammered against her chest, "No can do! Now I play Force Synchro which as it's name implies forces your two monsters to synchro summon!"

Raven watched in horror as her monsters floated upwards, rings of red light circled around them. The field was bathed in red light as the cry of a new dragon floated down, this one bright red with bright yellow eyes. "Crimson…Galaxy…Dragon…" Raven felt her consciousness begin to fade as it roared from next to her, with 3500 attack points and 3000 defense points.

"See! That wasn't so hard." She could hear in condescending tone as she struggled to stay conscious, "T-That's the…Crimson Dragon!" Jack's voice forced her to look at him, his face a mix of shock and awe.

"Now that _that's_ taken care of its time for my favorite part; I play the spell card Lightsworn Judgment! And since I have a Judgment Dragon on my side of the field I can attack your Crimson Galaxy Dragon! Judgment light!"

Raven shakes her head and forces herself to move one last desperate card, "I-I don't know what you're up too but I activate…my trap, Draining Shield! Now your attack gets negated and I gain lifepoints equal to your monsters attack points!"

She smiled, 'Yes…this is it. I'm done, I can go-' but her thoughts are cut off as her trap is destroyed, eyes wide she looks at his field; "Royal Decree negates all other traps on the field, and since I played Divine Judgment even when my monster gets destroyed you get hit with the combined attack and defense of my monster when he goes to the grave!"

"T-That's 5600 points…" She looked at Jack and knew if he stayed where he was he would get hit, turning off auto pilot she slammed into the front of his D-Wheel causing him to swerve and finally stop behind them as white light shined down on her.

"You can't escape the light of Judgment Raven, and what you're about to feel is the price of your sin." Isaac's red eyes glared at her, nothing but pure hatred reflected in them. She heard her name called out and smiled, "It's a price I will gladly pay for them Isaac."

This seemed to take him by surprise, but he didn't comment has a large bolt of lightning crashed down on her. Closing her eyes she screamed as sliced through her body, then everything was swept away by the darkness.

* * *

Jack watched in horror as a bolt of lightning struck down on his would-be sister, the girl he had promised to protect. Smoke rose from her runner as it toppled over and slid sideways across the ground, but he didn't pay attention to this as Raven herself flew off, hitting the track hard and rolling on the ground before sliding to a stop a few feet from her runner.

Jack heard Crow and the others yelling, but it was background noise to him as he ran over to her form, falling to his knees as he came upon her. She laid on the ground her torso facing upward and her legs scrunched sideways as if she were sleeping, but as the blonde carefully removed her helmet and saw the blood and sweat on her face he knew she definitely _wasn't_.

Both of her arms were bleeding where she had skidded across the ground and as he carefully leaned her against him he could feel it soaking into his white clothes, but again he paid little mind too it.

Crow appeared in front of him his hands hovering over her, unsure. All around them it seemed as if time had started moving in slow motion, something wet hit her face and it was then that it registered that he was…crying.

A voice broke through the fog of slow motion, looking down he saw bleary pale blue eyes, his heart beat fast as her shaky hand reached up to wipe away the tears that had slid down his cheek then over to Crow's own face to do the same. She smiled weakly;

"That's…not good. Kings don't…cry for something like this." Her voice was soft but it was there and he realized how right she was. It was undignified for a king to act in this manner, he frowned and wiped away the remains of the tears.

"_That's _the Jack Atlas I know…" she turned toward Crow, her thumb running gently over his cheek his own hand holding it firmly there. "Don't…make that face…I like it when you smile." She tried smiling herself but it only ended in her coughing hard.

Crow wiped his eyes on his glove and smiled widely, "Like this?" a small smile graced her lips, "E-Exactly...if it's n-not to much trouble..." she coughed again, "C-Can you take me to Dr. Schmidt?"

"W-What? um..sure, but why? Raven?" he eyes slid shut again, the hands on their faces going limp and falling to the ground beside her. "No…hospitals…please…" she whispered and was gone again.

Jack nodded and gently picked her up, he barely noticed Akiza standing off to the side consoling the twins as he got onto his runner. Crow ran up, "What the hell are you doing?!"

The blonde glared at the red head, "Exactly what she said! It's my fault she's this way so it's my responsibility to make sure she survives, even if it means going against _you_!"

Crow's eyes got wide, he dropped his head and nodded silently. "I'll call Yusei to tell him and meet you at Martha's later." He nodded, "Take good care of her Jack, I'll never forgive you if you don't."

He nodded again and took off, 'I wouldn't either Crow.'

* * *

_**;A; Ahhh i'm sorry Raven, looks like you're revenge is gonna have to wait. I hope you all enjoy your Holiday's! Please Review with any questions, comments or any thoughts you might be having. **_

_**Till next time! :3**_


	21. Dream flowers

_**Hello hello again! Happy 2013 to you all! I hope you had an amazing holiday! I'm all healed up and ready to start busting out chapters again, and I will try to post as much as possible but I've gotta go back to work on Monday :( Anyway, I would like to thank all my amazing super awesome reviewers; Magdalene Thorne, Thanks for the Holiday wishes I hope yours was amazing! FiringShootingStar, lol I guess it would be a really late Happy New year now ^_^" Count Morningstar, I really appreciate all your messages and so far i'm LOVING your story, sorry I haven't reviewed it just yet! Scarlett Wolf, sorry if i disappointing you we'll just have to see what happens. :) JPKos, and my ever so mysterious Guest reviewer! You all are so amazing! ;A; **_

_**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Yugioh 5Ds. Just my OC's and the plot of this story. :)**_

* * *

Crow let out a shaky breath, it was late afternoon by the time he called Yusei and made sure Akiza and the twins got back to the garage okay to wait for the news; he stood outside his childhood home, a place that _usually_ brought excitement and happiness coursing through his veins both to see his foster mother and to see his nest of kids.

But right now, the only he could feel was…yep, he was gonna say it; 'Fear.' Behind those doors waited the fate of the one girl he couldn't seem to get enough of, the girl who had touched a part of his heart he thought no one would ever reach. He would never admit it out loud but her ignorance of the marks on his face and how she would just stare at them when she thought he wasn't looking was what attracted him at first.

He then discovered her little quirks; like how much she cared even though she tried to hide it, the way her face seemed to glow from the depths of her soul when she smiled, how red her face got over even the littlest of things. Even how unwittingly sarcastic she was, or how she made his heart race with just a look, the way her presence alone would seem to light up his very soul.

Yet, as he stood by the Blackbird he couldn't seem to move that step toward the door. What would he do if that light was gone? The red head shook his head violently, "No! Gotta stay positive! She'll get through this! She has too…"

With that thought he clenched his fists and slowly, so slowly it felt like years, he took a step. And another, and another, just one foot over the other until he reached the door, and just as he raised his hand to knock it swung open his foster mother standing there with a soft smile on her face.

"Martha…" she leaned forward her arms outstretched, wrapping them securely around his shoulders. Almost automatically he returned the gesture, burying his face in her strong shoulder.

"She…she's gonna be okay right?" Asking that question alone almost sent him into a crying fit, but a better part of him just barely held himself together, if only by tape and glue.

"My boy…she's stronger than you all give her credit for." 'Yep, here they come.' And with that thought the water works began, but this time they were of happiness.

~0~0~0~

Crow wasn't sure how long they stood there, hugging while he bawled like a baby, but as they parted and the dark skinned woman lead him down the hall and through the door that lead to the little hospital wing that Doc Schmidt ran. As far as he knew the only patients he had were some local families too poor to afford medical care in the city or old folks who lost their homes.

Said gray haired doctor stepped out of a room at the very end closing the door behind him he sighed and looked up, seeing them coming toward him. Crow ran up to the man a flurry of questions leaving his mouth, the doctor merely placed a finger over his lips to silence him.

"She's okay; she's sustained a few minor scratches and bruises. However, both her shoulders are severely lacerated, given time though those should heal over. Considering the placement of the wounds she's very lucky, though what's concerning is it seems her white blood cell count is extremely low." Crow frowned,

"Those do what again?"

"They're cells that eat bacteria and fungi, and without enough of those to help the healing process I'm afraid she's gotten a pretty high fever." His eyes widened as fear coursed through his veins,

"H-How do we fix that?" The doctor placed his hands on his shoulders,

"I've given her an immune booster to help her fight off the infection and some antibacterial shots to help rebuild her white blood cells. The rest is up too her, so all we can do is wait." The red head let out a sigh of relief as he ran his hand through his hair,

"Thank goodness…" he sighed and then frowned when he noticed the absence of one very at-fault blonde; "Where's Jack?" Doc Schmidt looked at the door behind him,

"He hasn't left her side all day, I brought him a chair not too long ago but he hasn't said a word since I treated her." He nodded, "It's a good thing you brought her here too, seems like the entire city is looking for her." Crow frowned;

"Why?" the man sighed,

"Apparently they believe that since she delivered the first cure that she might hold the key to solving this 'satellite flu' mystery." He shook his head,

"But I know for a fact she doesn't! What she gave them was supposed to be it." Doc Schmidt nodded,

"I know that, but people are beginning to panic. And with the number of people infected increasing and the way the virus is evolving its only going to get worse." He nodded, honestly he had no clue what he was going to do. But all he could do right now was trust in Raven and talk to her about it directly once she was okay again.

'Everything else could wait, damn it!'

"Can I see her?" the grey haired man smiled softly,

"Of course, but no fighting please. She desperately needs to rest right now." And with that the doctor stepped out of the way, opening the door for the red head. The room was small and rectangle shaped and smelled of sterile cleaner, the wooden walls faded slightly,there was a window at the far end, though the blinds were currently shut, so any light from the snow outside shone through small cracks.

It was almost too intimidating to continue moving forward, except that is for the familiar form on the bed sitting directly in front of him. Long black hair cascading over the starkly white pillow, as equally white bandages wrapped around her forehead, her cheeks a flushed red with fever as a clear mask covered her nose and mouth that made strange puffing sounds as she took each ragged breath.

The clothes she had been wearing before had thankfully been taken off and replaced with a long sleeve dark blue shirt, standard patient gear he assumed as he slowly approached the bed.

An I.V. was attached to her arm, pumping in some strange clear liquid. Both her slender shoulders were wrapped in white gauze and Crow could see the brownish color of dried blood through it, lightly he brushed his fingers across her own, afraid to do more harm to the already fragile looking girl. Kneeling down next to the bed he carefully held her hand in his own,

"Has she said anything?" he whispered to no one in particular, though a familiar Australian accent answered;

"Not since at the track." Looking directly across the bed he met the amethyst eyes of his blonde brother and friend, though he seemed to wear his usual frown Crow could see concern in his eyes and something else…guilt?

"Jack." The blonde didn't look up, his eyes fixed on the sleeping girl, but he knew he had heard him.

"She's stubborn right?" Crow smirked, the blonde nodded,

"So determined to take on the world but hasn't got the power to do it." The blonde murmured.

"Stubborn idiot, doing all _that_ just to end up here, and for what?" the red head shrugged,

"For us probably, I heard her say that during the duel when that crazy light surrounded her." They didn't say anything for a time, until Jack broke the silence again.

"She didn't even know how to Turbo Duel until today…can you believe that? A person riding a D-Wheel like she does and has no idea how to accomplish its very function." He chuckled as he said this, making the red head smirk as they stared at the sleeping girl.

"Silly girl…it somehow doesn't surprise me that you didn't know. But Jack here, he took good care of you, and even though he doesn't know much." Jack glared at him, "He _does_ know dueling, so you couldn't have been in better hands. So even though you lost and he'll mock you endlessly for it I'm sure he's proud of you." He looked at the blonde know, his deep purple eyes staring widely at his own.

"And I'm sure you don't blame him for any of this, because he taught you well." The blonde bent his head leaning it against his hands, he didn't make any noise but Crow could tell by the subtle way his shoulders shook, he was crying. He looked back at the sleeping girl;

"So come back to us soon okay?" and Crow could have sworn for the smallest second he felt her squeeze his hand.

* * *

"_Look to the beginning."_

Raven looked around, one minute she was playing near a small pond with little ducklings and a small waterfall across the way in the forest outside of Alturas as she had when she was little, and the next an unfamiliar voice was speaking to her again. "Who are you?"

"_I am a friend." _Well that's helpful, she couldn't see anything beyond the trees around her so she felt kinda foolish talking to herself. As if reading her mind a man in a light blue button up shirt, black pants and a long white coat that seemed to shine as what she could only describe as sparkles floated off him.

But it wasn't this that drew her attention, it was his black spiked hair his bangs hanging down one side of his face, covering one of his cobalt blue eyes. He smiled down at her, one of his hands reaching out helping her to stand, though he still towered over her.

"You look…familiar. Have we met before sir?" she was being as polite as possible as to not offend this new person, his smile remained.

"_No but I believe you know someone who is very close to my heart. I sensed that he might be in danger and I believe you are the only one who can help them."_ She was confused by this, and shook her head.

"I'm sorry but I'm not a savior or a hero of any kind, I barely know the difference between slang and actual speech!" it was a flimsy excuse she knew but the idea of saving anyone was scary. Strong hands landed on her shoulders,

"_It's alright child. You have all the tools you could need for this task, now please we haven't much time left." _For some reason his words seemed to soothe her and she nodded.

"_Now in order to keep this disease from spreading beyond Neo Domino you must look to the past to save the future! The one who bound you and the Crimson Dragon is the key!" _His voice echoed through out the forest sending ripples through the water below her.

"I can't stop him! I can't….not by myself!" she wrapped her arms around herself,

"_My dear, you are never alone. Not only will the Dragon be with you, you also have my son and all his friends as well.!"_ Raven gasped, _"Are they not your happiness?"_

Nodding she looked up, "They are! I would protect them with everything I am!" she felt the man's approval,

"_Look to the past Raven….to the past." _His voice echoed around her as darkness consumed her.

~0~0~0~

Pale blue eyes snapped open; blinking a few times they focused on an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. There was a beeping noise coming from beside her, beeping in time with her own heartbeat. 'A…heart monitor? Am I in the hospital?'

Slowly and with very little pain she sat up, she felt the itchy pinch of an I.V. in her right arm and the clip on her finger for the heart monitor. The only window in the room was closed but she could see a tiny bit of sunlight streaming through the blinds, so at least she knew it was still day time.

But other than that she noted, she was alone.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she stretched out a bit, wiggling her toes first. 'Alright, the little piggies seem to be in working order.' Continuing this check all the way up her body she noted the only sore spots were just below both her shoulders, lightly running her fingers over the white gauze it felt as if her marks had scabbed over underneath.

As the memories of her duel with Isaac came back to her the door on the opposite end of the room opened and to her relief it was Doctor Schmidt that walked in, his eyes widened as he looked from the chart in his hand to her before smiling.

"Raven, welcome back." She smirked at his humor, but as she opened her mouth to reply back she found her voice would not come. As she grabbed her throat to message it the doctor walked over to the bedside table and poured some water in a glass before handing it to her.

Smiling her thanks she downed the cool liquid, relishing how it felt going down her dry throat. Clearing her throat she managed to get some sound out, but the kind man beat her to it.

"I know you must have some questions, but first; how is your pain? Does it hurt anywhere?" Motioning to her bandaged shoulders and making a shrinking motion with her fingers he nodded,

"That's to be expected, you skidded pretty hard against them but thankfully it scabbed over very nicely so the pain should lessen given some time." Clearing her throat she tried speaking again;

"H-ow…Long?" the two words scrapped against her vocal cords but she was proud she got them out.

"You've been asleep for about 3 days now, its pretty remarkable how fast you healed. Your bruised ribs and burn was gone by the time you came in, and it seems your white blood count has returned to normal now. I'm sure the boys will be very happy once they get here later." Her eyes widened,

"W-Where?" the doctor smiled,

"Crow, and Yusei had to work and Jack had something he had to take care of. But they all said they would come by later to visit. Just as they've done everyday since your accident." She couldn't believe what she was hearing, had they really done so much while she was in dream land? It made her happy to know that she wasn't alone,

"I'm actually really impressed also…" she lifted a brow. The doctor smirked,

"Crow seems to be very smitten with you, more so then I've ever seen with anyone. You're quite the lucky girl." Blushing she stared at her lap,

"I know…" After taking a deep breath and running a hand through her bangs she noticed how matted they were, the hair behind her shoulder no doubly a mess of tangles. Looking at the doctor hopefully she asked;

"S-Shower?" The man chuckled,

"I will have Martha prepare a bath for you so as not to irritate your shoulders. Just make sure not to get them wet." She smiled widely and nodded as he walked out of the room again.

And once again she bowed her head and silently thanked the Crimson Dragon for allowing her to meet such amazing people.

~0~0~0~

Raven sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom, a towel on her head like a hood, sadly she had no clothes here so she was forced to put on a new pair of the standard hospital garments of a dark blue tee shirt and matching pants. Though because of her height they practically pooled at her feet, but at this point in her life, she was used too it.

As she got back to her room she noticed Jack, Akiza, Luna, Leo and Yusei standing there, looking inside the room she once occupied. Curious she stood as stall as she could to try and see what was so interesting, though all she could see was the top of Bruno's head as he flailed around. There was also a strange running sound coming from inside her room,

"Crow relax I'm sure she woke up and went to get some water. Stop freaking out." Yusei said calmly, she smiled, 'I always liked how Yusei would be the calm reasonable one in a crisis.' Jack spoke now,

"I doubt it, she probably fell down a well somewhere for all we know." She sweat dropped, 'Does he really think I'm that stupid?' a voice in the back of her mind replied with a definite "Yes" Sighing she tapped Jack's shoulder; he didn't turn instead made a noise to show he was listening.

"Who are you looking for?" he scoffed,

"Haven't you heard? We're looking for that air head Raven, so leave us alone and let us get too it Raven." She nodded and began to walk away,

"Great! Let me know when you find her." He nodded; she smirked when it got deadly quiet behind her as 7 pairs of eyes turned toward her.

And that's when it began; the hugging war between Jack and the twins with Akiza, Bruno and Crow looking at them with an amused look. Though as she looked at Crow he seemed to be purposely avoiding look at her, 'Is he…' but the thought was cut short as a hard fist landed directly on her head.

"Ow ow ow! Why?!" she said rubbing her head and looking up toward the smug looking blonde,

"_That_ is for losing a match I could have easily won!" she sweat dropped, 'That's the part he focuses on?' but another hard fist on her head stopped her from voicing her thought.

"Ouch! Why _now_?!" Jack's purple eyes could have glared holes through her,

"_That_ is for making all of us worry so much _and_ dueling a man that could have very well killed you." She winced, at some point she had come to expect some sort of scolding about that. But to be perfectly honest she didn't feel the least bit bad about that. She bowed to all of them,

"I-I'm sorry about those first two things….but…I won't apologize for dueling Isaac. It was my battle to fight, and hiding behind you all would have made things worse than they already are."

She tried her best to maintain eye contact with them, but had to turn away as Crow scoffed and began walking toward her. She could definitely feel it now, and as he brushed past her and through the door into the main house mumbling a loud;

"Whatever." She knew for sure, he was angry with her.

Crossing her arms she stared at the closed door, "He's got no right to be mad, I didn't do anything wrong." She whispered.

"Clearly you're more of an idiot than I gave you credit for." Jack's eyes bore into her as he said this lighting her fire even more,

"Excuse me? I am _not_ some freakin princess that needs to be protected when things get tough! I have the scars to prove_ that_!" She groaned loudly as she remembered the twins, Akiza and Bruno were still standing there.

"Thank you for visiting and making sure I'm okay, but as you can see I'm fine." With that she threaded her way back into the room, shutting the door hard behind her. Lying back down on the bed she felt that fire inside of her still blurring her thoughts, sighing loudly she tossed the pillow across the room landing with a dull thump at the foot of her bed.

Raven had to admit, she was a bit ticked off that _he _was mad at _her_.

Rolling to her side as the door opened again, this time it was Yusei and Jack, she huffed loudly but didn't have the heart to tell them to go away.

"Raven." She wrapped her arms around herself as Yusei said her name, she felt the bed dip slightly at her feet.

"What do you want?" she whispered,

"Stop acting like a petulant child, will you. It's undignified!" she huffed again, but as her more rational mind began to seep its way back in she sat up pulling her knees to her chest.

"Better?" she deadpanned. Jack leaned against the wall in front of her, his arms crossed and with Yusei sitting at the corner of the bed,

"Do you understand why Crow's angry?" the dark haired man said, she shook her head.

"He's got _no_ right to be angry at me for dueling Isaac, he's my problem not yours." She mumbled. Yusei shook his head,

"Raven it's more than that and you know it; why didn't you tell anyone you saw him after the festival? Or about the man hunt for you? Even about your dad and how he's the reason this is all happening? We're your friends Raven, how are we supposed to help you if you don't say anything?" She curled tighter into herself at that,

"I couldn't…it wouldn't have been fair to you all…" Jack scoffed,

"What the duce does that mean? Shouldn't we be the ones to decide what's fair to us?" Shaking her head she tried to find a way to phrase it,

"Make us understand Raven." She looked up as she felt the pure worry and confusion in his voice,

"How? How am I, someone who's never had a friend in her entire life, supposed to suddenly lean on people all of a sudden?" She stared directly at them, "How do you expect me to just come here and dump all of my stupid problems on you all? All of you, especially Crow, have been so kind to me that dragging any of you into this would be unfair…no it would make our relationship more _unbalanced_."

Yusei seemed to consider this thought, Jack, not one for deep thoughts just rolled his eyes,

"Don't be so daft! Friends have each others backs when we need them, so if one of us is in trouble it's not the end of the world to help them out because then they'll help us when _we_ need it." Raven seriously had a hard time believing that,

"Jack's right, have we ever given you a reason _not_ to think we wouldn't be there when you need us?" the fire inside of her burned out at this, because the truth was they hadn't. Every time she needed them, they were there even without being asked too. She sighed and sat Indian style looking at them sheepishly,

"I'm sorry, you're right." Yusei smirked in her peripheral vision and patted her hand, "So um…should I catch you both up on what I know?" They shook their heads,

"Doc Schmidt did that while you were asleep, and Carly's been doing some digging to throw Angela off your trail. We just have to be a bit more careful when we're out in public for the time being." She nodded as relief flooded through her; once again her friends had her back and protected her.

"Who the duce is this Isaac bastard?" Jack said clearly not willing to ignore the elephant in the room, Yusei sighed.

"H-He's the one who…um…" she lightly traced her fingers over one of the scabs where the mark used to be. Of course Jack, not one for subtly, said it for her;

"_He _put those damned things on you?!" she cringed at his tone but nodded.

"_That's _all the more reason you shouldn't have lost!" she bit her lip,

"Way to rub salt in the wound Jack." Yusei sighed,

"I-It wasn't about winning or losing Jack. I'm sure if I had been alone I would have ran as far and as fast as I could from him…but since you were there, then Crow and the others it gave me the strength to keep fighting him as hard as I could." Lightly rubbing the bandages on her arms she continued,

"Before, in Alturas, I wasn't able to fight him…every time he would come for me I simply obeyed and took whatever he did. _He_ made me believe that no matter where I went or whatever I did, there would be no place for me, that I was nothing."

"But you escaped; you must have found strength somewhere?" Yusei's voice was confused; she stared at the blinds wishing they were open.

"I took an opportunity, but I still knew even when I did, I wouldn't find anyone who'd help me. Isaac is the one who made me believe that, mind you it didn't actually sink in until after my parent's died."

"Then where did you get the runner?" Yusei was sure asking a lot of questions today, but Raven didn't mind now that she _knew_ beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could trust them, though that's not to say it didn't hurt immensely to remember.

"M-My parent's actually, I guess they figured I wouldn't be able to stay there forever. So after I escaped I hid out in the forest for a while, in a secret area that I would go to sometimes. Apparently they built a concealed shed around it; it took a while for me to figure out how to ride it. But when I was finally able too…it was indescribable that feeling." She smiled.

"And you know the rest up to this point." Then she remembered something, something Isaac had said specifically; _"I see you didn't get my present I left you."_ She suddenly leaned forward toward Yusei,

"You didn't happen to get any flowers did you? An odd number of carnations or a really pretty black one?" his cobalt eyes widened,

"How did you know? It came a few days ago while you and Jack were off at the track, are they important?" She groaned,

"What did they look like?" Yusei thought for a second,

"Well I think there were around 13 or so of these white carnations and a weird black one that looked like a daisy. Are they significant?" Raven paled and jumped from the bed, her mind screaming at her to find Crow. Just before her fingers touched the knob an arm around her waist stopped her, physically lifting her off the ground as she kicked.

"Raven, what the hell?! Stop _kicking_ me!" Jack's voice was in her ear, she pulled uselessly at his arm,

"Jack we have to find Crow! Please let me go! We _have _to find him!" she could feel tears in her eyes as Yusei appeared in front of her holding his arms out to keep her from hitting him, or hurting herself.

"Raven, calm down. Why do we have to find him? What's wrong?" Taking a couple deep breaths her voice cracked as the tears fell,

"T-The flowers…that's how we communicate in Alturas…the daisy is actually a Lenten Rose, they're a poisonous flower that means 'Beware', and the odd number of white carnations mean 'Death*'. Isaac meant to kill _me_, but since he didn't…he'll…" more tears fell now she could barely get out the next sentence.

"Help me…please…Crow he doesn't know…I can't." she leaned heavily over Jack's arm, gripping it tightly with her hands.

"Jack." The blonde nodded and gently placed her back on the ground as Yusei walked to the hook that had her coat and a pair of boots sitting under it, handing it to her with a reassuring smile.

"Let's go."

* * *

_**Dun dun dun! Can anyone guess who the man from Raven's dream was? Virtual cookies to anyone who guesses right! **_

_*****__**I actually heard that on TV but I don't remember where the superstition originates. the Lenten Rose doesn't actually mean a death threat though, but it's a really pretty poisonous flower! XD Please review with any thoughts, comments or helpful comments!**_

_**Till next time! :3 **_


	22. Goodbye to the Past

_**Yay! I'm happy to say everyone guessed correctly! Virtual cookies for all of you! I would send actual cookies but I feel like asking "Where do you all live?" is very stalker-like lol! Anyway I'd like to thank all my amazing reviewers; Scarlett Wolf, FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne, JuneGilbertVivianRaeven, Osseo Fan 7713, Fireball Girl, and my ever mysterious Guest reviewer! I always have mini-fangirl attacks when I see i've got reviews from all of you and it helps me pump these chapters out! **_

_**Disclaimer: I really really wish I did own Yugioh 5Ds but sadly I don't! Only my own OCs and the plot of this story. **_

* * *

Crow huffed out a smoky breath as he walked down a random street of the Satellite; he couldn't even bear to go back to Martha's, a place that usually brought him happiness. All because of _her_, the girl he was in love with that was also being unreasonable.

'It's like she doesn't even trust us at all...despite all we've been through. But what she said during that duel…' he groaned loudly, thankfully it wasn't snowing but the downcast skies made the red head really miss the sun. Though as he took in more of his surroundings he realized something very important;

He was currently standing in front of Robert Pearson's grave.

His stormy eyes widened for a second before he smirked, 'You always were there when I needed you Pearson.' He sat down in front of the grave and sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

"You never told me girls were so complicated to have around dude. But this one…" he smiled, "she's definitely different, I think you'd like her. She's the complete opposite of me, the girl doesn't even curse! Her name's Raven, you'd probably make fun of me for that too. But birds of a feather really do flock together in this case." The memories of her made his heart beat fast,

"You'd be proud…she duels like nothing else and the children adore her. Even Jack seems to have taken a real liking to her, so much so that he's claimed her as his pseudo sister. Raven's amazing Pearson, she makes me feel like nothing else like I'm more than the way people view me, especially in the female department. Sure, I can probably get a few dates here and there but none of them really last." He touched the marks on his face.

"But can you believe it? She thinks these things are beautiful!" he chuckled, "there are times though, that I don't understand her. She got hurt recently…by some bastard from her past…but she didn't tell me about him. There's so much trouble going on around her and I no clue! She didn't say anything, I could have helped I could have…"

Stormy eyes widened again, 'It's not _her_ I was angry at…it was me.' He smiled up at the grey stone, "You always did know how to reason with me Pearson." Standing up again he tugged at the jacket around him, the very one _she _had given him.

"Alright! Time to go make up! She owes me some serious smooching for this!" he was only partly joking with that statement. Suddenly stars burst in his eyes as something hard came in contact with his head, knocking him to the ground.

Before he could turn what felt like a long metal wire wrapped tightly around his neck, yanking his head back as the unknown assailant pulled hard. Crow wrapped his fingers around the cord and tried to pull it away to give him to leverage to move around, but too no avail as the mystery person was stronger and pulled back harder making him lose his grip.

Air became hard to come by as his vision started narrowing and blurring, it was like an old T.V. he had come by back in the Satellite, the picture getting smaller and smaller as it turned off. Desperately he tried to hang onto that quickly fading picture, the person behind him began to laugh, a laugh that sounded sickeningly familiar to the red head.

"This is what you get for taking in my little stray boy, and once you're out of the way she'll have no choice but to come crawling back to me." Crow tried to force out a smart remark at Isaac's smug tone but found that impossible. The sadistic male continued on, seemingly ignoring anything Crow _might_ have said if he were able.

"I don't appreciate my toys being taken from me, especially _her._ I've trained her for a long time and I _don't_ like all my hard work to go to some disgusting city dweller like you. She's mine and I _intend_ to have her _completely_." All throughout his disgusting speech Crow felt both his hearing go in and out, even as anger coiled inside him at what the man was implying.

His anger alone was what kept him conscious even now, he was so focused on the man behind him that he didn't hear someone shout his name and just as his vision completely black out a duel card whizzed behind him, cutting the cord and sending both men to the ground.

* * *

The sight before Raven as Jack pulled up to a memorial site was exactly what she had feared the most, Isaac stood firmly behind Crow a wire in both hands that was securely wrapped around the red head's neck as he kneeled on the ground glaring at the man behind him.

She screamed his name even as Jack drew a card and threw it toward the two, cutting the wire and sending both parties crashing to the ground.(Yay Yugioh logic!) Quickly jumping off Jack's runner and running down the hill toward the fallen red head that was now coughing and gasping for breath.

Falling to her knees in front of his form she placed her hands on his shoulders, ignoring the tears streaming down her face as she glared at her tormentor who was standing again, dusting himself off calmly, a sickening smile on his face.

She clutched protectively at Crow's shoulders as Isaac took a step toward them, though he took no more than that as, thankfully, Yusei and Jack appeared in front of them. Isaac's crimson eyes bore into them with pure hatred,

"You bastard! How dare you hurt our friend!" Jack yelled raising his fists. Isaac smirked,

"Bring it pretty boy, a weakling like _her_ couldn't have friends stronger then me." Raven could see Jack's poster relax then tense again,

"Yusei, you check on Crow, I got this weirdo." Said mechanic gave him a sidelong look before nodding and turning on his heel toward the duo on the ground. He kneeled behind Crow, effectively blocking any and all view she had of what was going on behind him, and gently rubbed the still ragged breathed red head. Yusei smiled at her and looked back at Crow, silently saying;

"Jack's got it, we need to focus on him." She nodded and turned her attention toward the red head now collapsed in her lap, tuning out the grunts and shuffling footsteps in front of her she gently ran her fingers through his bright orange locks.

"Oh Crow…I'm so sorry. For everything, you were right to get mad at me, I should have told you what was going on." She carefully folded her torso over his head, her own resting against his back.

His breath was beginning to slow, and she could hear his heart beating through his back. He groaned and thinking she was hurting him more she instantly backed off, slowly sitting up he coughed a few times as he massaged his throat, a bruise beginning to form.

Watery steel grey eyes looked at her, he smirked and gave her shaky thumbs up, Raven couldn't stop the wave of emotion as she jumped toward him wrapping her arms around his neck sending them both crashing to the ground. A string of apologies running out of her lips even as she nuzzled against his chest.

Three things brought her attention back to reality; one, Yusei's gasp followed in turn by a chuckle, two Crow's groan followed by a "You're gonna kill me with your hugs." And third and most importantly, Jack's grunt followed by a laugh of triumph.

The three standing off to the side turned toward the blonde who, with a few scrapes and bruises, stood with one leg on top of a struggling and hog-tied Isaac who now was sporting a black eye and a bleeding lip.

"_That_ ladies and gentleman is how a king fights!" Raven had to hold back a chuckle as she saw the blonde had tied the man up with the very cord he had tried to strangle Crow with. But she didn't focus on this as she stood up and walked toward the struggling and screaming man. Upon seeing her standing in front of him a string of curses left his mouth,

"Vous pute! Je vais te tuer! Ce n'est pas fini!"( You bitch! I'll kill you! It is not finished) she narrowed her eyes as she leaned down to his level.

"Jack you can stop stepping on him, he's finished and he knows it." It took the blonde a few moments of contemplation before he nodded and removed his foot, he still stayed close by though. The minute he did Isaac tried to squirm toward her, using her anger charged mind she used her powers to stop him, his body rising so that It was floating in mid air, she stood so that they were eye level.

The look of pure disgust and hatred permeated his facial features, she stared at him, seeing behind both of those feelings was actually fear and…love? She shivered, the very idea of him loving her in anyway made her sick to her stomach.

"Why are you really here Isaac? Alturasian's don't venture beyond the forest for a reason. So what brought you here?" the question had plagued her mind for a while, as it was almost unheard of that any of their people would leave the town. He spit in her face as a reply,

"Now why would I tell you that you abomination?" scrunching her nose she quickly wiped the disgusting fluid from her face, and tossed him like a rag doll against a nearby tree.

"It was Wulf wasn't it?" his wide eyes was confirmation enough, she smirked.

"See Isaac, I'm not as stupid as you pegged me to be. Especially now, if you look at our positions." His shocked look turned to that of panic, 'At least he understands what could happen and I'm sure I wouldn't have hesitated before…but.' She looked behind her, at the faces of her friends, the people she loved with every fiber of her being and her anger melted away.

Turning back to her hostage she spoke again, "Now I have one more question and I do hope you will answer it honestly, because you and I both know I can tell when you lie. Did you set the fire that killed my parents?"

It was now that he became tight lipped, and she sighed and sent a psychic wave at him pushing his body harder against the tree making him gasp and squirm as it cracked under his weight.

"S-Stop! Y-Yes! It was me!" Instantly the power holding him against the tree vanished and he crashed to the ground breathing hard, Raven just stood there staring her bangs hiding her eyes from the three on lookers.

"Why?" she whispered, Isaac didn't reply. "Why would you _do _ that?! They didn't do anything wrong! They were good people! I didn't care what you did to _me_ so long as they were okay, so _why_?" she was shouting now, her sadness and grief of losing the only parents she had known showing through as her legs finally gave out and she shank to the ground her tears dropping onto her lap.

"B-By our laws…it was the only way to cleanse your evil from them." Raven couldn't even bring herself to reply.

The rumble of approaching cars and D-Wheels reached her ears as Jack walked over to Isaac and glared down at him.

"Well, by _our_ laws that's murder and _this_ is assault. Go rot in jail for what you've done you filth." Jack sent a crushing kick into his stomach effectively knocking the red haired man out cold before turning back toward them.

"Crow, get up and get _her_ out of here." He emphasized Raven by pointing, she vaguely thought at the back of her mind that there really wasn't any other 'her' to be talking about. As an arm wrapped around her waist she looked up, her own eyes meeting those of Crows.

"Come on Raven, we need to get while the getting's good." She frowned not really understanding, as she stood her eyes purposely avoiding looking at the bruise around his neck.

"Why?" Yusei touched her shoulder, his cobalt blue eyes calming.

"We'll explain back at the house, for now you both need to go. Me and Jack will make sure Trudge takes care of him." He motioned to the passed out Isaac, she bit her lip and nodded.

"Thank you." Yusei nodded as the sound of boots hitting the ground reached their ears from behind Jack, and Crow pulled her in the opposite direction holding tightly onto her hand as they ran back toward Martha's.

~0~0~0~0~

As soon as Crow had deemed they were far enough away did he stop, both of them breathing hard. Once she was sure she could breathe normally did she look at the boy in front of her.

He was rubbing his no doubt sore neck sending another wave of guilt through her, acting purely on instinct her body moved toward his own pale blue eyes glued to the bruise ring marring his usually perfect skin.

As she lifted her hand to try and soothe the skin it was encompassed in the red heads own, raising it so that it instead rested on his cheek right above the markers she was so very fond of. She looked at him sheepishly, he just smiled down at her.

"I'm fine really! I admit he caught me by surprise but I'm alive thanks to you and the others. So don't worry," He smiled widely making her heart jump, "I'm a big boy, tie my own shoes and everything." She giggled as he mimicked her own words, still she leaned toward his neck and lightly ran her lips over the skin.

"I really am sorry for earlier, I got angry and didn't try to understand how you felt. I won't do it again." He chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her waist pressing his own lips against her forehead before continuing toward their destination.

"Good! The great Crow-sama has decided to forgive you!" she giggled, and ran a bit ahead of him giving a slight bow.

"Why thank you! You're compassion is as great as they say!" his laughter fueled her own as they continued this little banter until they reached Martha's house. And like a sixth sense the woman appeared out the door brandishing a wooden spoon in one hand and a very scary look upon her face, and looking at Crow's own she guessed she had a right to be scared.

'Hell hath no fury like that of a mother's scorn…' and boy was she right about that as Martha began reprimanding them for leaving so suddenly, especially with Raven _just_ having woken up followed by a glare toward the male which of course made her notice the mark around his neck.

"Where you fighting again? What did I tell you about that?" he glanced down then back up at the woman.

"Fight with your deck not your fists." Martha smiled and blew out a sigh, it was then that Raven learned the truth of the woman's words as her stomach began to rumble before letting out a rather large and mortifying gurgle. She blushed and looked down, noticing how badly her legs were shaking both from the cold and that she probably hadn't had anything to eat for…three days? Crow and Martha laughed making her face turn even redder,

"Come inside both of you, dinner's almost ready and you, Raven," she pointed the wooden spoon at her, "Need to rest, you're still recovering after all."

And with that she turned on her heel and began walking back toward the door where of course, many of the children inhabiting the place where standing there listening to their reprimanding. Crow sighed and smiled at her,

"Well that could have been worse! I remembered back in the old days how she knock us over the head with that spoon." She giggled and sweat dropped, now _that_ would have been something to see. Crow's own stomach soon joined in on the noise as the smell from inside the house wafted out making him drool slightly and walk toward the still open door, Raven laughed and followed after.

~0~0~0~0~

Dinner at Martha's had once again been pleasant; Jack and Yusei had shown up and told them about Isaac. The man had immediately been arrested and was due for a very long stay in something called the Facility, though Raven wasn't sure what exactly that place was she was happy she wouldn't have to come in contact with him again.

'Too bad I can't say the same about my father…' she thought forlornly, but her attention was brought back as Yusei mentioned something about said very evil man.

"I had a friend in Sector Security look up any information pertaining to you or Wulf, she managed to get a few things on you though nothing I'm sure you don't already know. But he is another story…" the mechanic pulled a small tube-like thing*, and holding it out for her. She wasn't really sure what he expected her to do with it though. Thankfully Yusei sensed her confusion and elaborated,

"Sorry, It's a device that stores and shows information when you aren't near a computer. You just press this button here, " he pointed to a small button on the side, "and a screen appears and shows all the information stored on here. I figured since Bruno and me hog the computers so much it would be easier for you to read on this." She smiled and carefully accepted the object.

"Thank you Yusei! That's very kind of you, I will make sure to put it to good use." She looked at the thing in her hand remembering what the man from her dream, "Look to the past…hmm."

Crow and Jack's yelling voices brought her from her thoughts, Martha had made a small cake to celebrate Raven's good health and they were fighting over who's piece was bigger, Jack of course insisting his should be as he was a king and needed a 'kingly sized piece.' She smirked and offered her own piece to the two boys in hopes of settling them, sadly this had the opposite effect as they began arguing about her having to be generous with her own share to appease Jack's greediness.

Of course her claim that she wasn't feeling that well and couldn't possibly eat the pastry fell on deaf ears, well not _completely_, as Yusei looked at her his brows knitted together in concern.

She smiled at him and waved off the comment, but she couldn't deny the crawling sensation throughout her skin or the faint whooshing sound like the wind was blowing in the back of her mind. As the world began to blur and fuzz she groaned internally, 'Oh…I'm going too..'

She couldn't finish the thought as her body fell sideways, landing against Yusei's shoulder, scaring the poor mechanic as he caught her before she could hit the ground, Raven on the other hand didn't even feel a thing.

~0~0~0~0~

Pale blue eyes slowly fluttered open, staring straight at a wooden ceiling her body felt like it was made of lead still she somehow managed to sit up, and after blinking a few times realized she was back in the room she had woken up in before.

She groaned as the memories from before came flooding back, 'Oh yeah, I must have passed out. I guess I pushed myself too much.' The room around her was dark, even the window provided no light thus telling her it was night time. 'I wonder if Crow, Jack and Yusei went home.'

The sound of someone snoring in the chair next to her bed answered her question as she looked over to see the red head stretched out in the chair a blanket over his legs, his mouth hanging open slightly and a calm look on his face. She would never tell him this, but times like these were definitely her favorite.

Seeing the peaceful look upon his face as he slept, the little noises he made, how he would twitch slightly, even the drool that was currently making its way down his chin. All of it was only one of many little quirks she loved about him, her heart fluttered making a blush rise on her cheeks as she realized her thoughts.

'Despite everything that's happened, all the pain and tears I really do love him.' She smiled as he twitched again, making him reach up and scratch his ear. She couldn't stop the giggle as it resembled an action more fitting of a mouse.

Her musings were interrupted though as a loud shout rang from down the hall, making her jump and Crow jolt awake. There was the sound of running footsteps,

"What the hell?" Crow's voice was thick with sleep and he jumped up as the door slammed open, Nao stood there his form shadowed by the light outside of the door but she could tell it was him by the sound of his sniffling.

"Nao! Don't go in there, they're sleeping!" Martha's voice came from behind him making the boy run straight into the room and crash onto the bed burying his face in Raven's lap. Said woman appeared in the door way,

"Nao your being rude come here." The boy replied with a muffled "No!" and clung tighter to her waist. Crow's gloved hand appeared on his back gently rubbing it,

"Come on little man, at least tell us what all the ruckus is about." His only reply was the sound of the child's sobbing, Martha walked in now pulling up her sleeves intent on dragging the sobbing child out if need be. Raven waved her hand, shaking her head as she turned back toward the child.

"Nao." Her voice was soft and the response was subtle, as his sobs died down a bit. She looked at Martha,

"What happened?" the woman sighed, "Nao's aunt has come forward to adopt him, but he believes his mother will come to get him so he refuses to go with her. She's flying over here as we speak to get him, and when I told him he got spooked." Raven felt the boys grip tighten.

"What happened to his-" she was cut off by Martha shaking her head, she looked down at the boy.

"Nao look at me." The boy didn't respond at first but slowly he sat up on his knees and looked at her, his green eyes red from crying she smiled, "Come now, dry your tears." She said as she pulled a tissue from the box by the bed and handed it too him, watching as he did as instructed.

Raven really was in unfamiliar territory here and wasn't sure what to say, she then remembered something her own mother had told her; "Why don't you want to go with this woman? Do you not think she will love you?"

He shook his head, "M-Mommy is gonna come back and get me someday! What is she gonna do if I go and I'm not here? I _have _to stay." She sighed, her heart went out to him here.

"Listen, I don't know your mom personally but I do know mom's. See my own mother would always tell me this; 'If you love some one unconditionally and with your whole heart, than you will do what is best for them not you.' Your mother loved you so much she decided that in order for you to have a wonderful life that you couldn't be with her anymore." Raven saw his eyes widen as she continued.

"So shouldn't you honor that wish she made? Because that's exactly what she wished for with all her heart and soul. And if this Aunt of yours wants to take you in and help make that wish come true don't you think it would be wonderful?" Nao sniffed again as he thought about it, she could see the defiance gone from his eyes.

"B-But what about Onii-chan? If I go with her then I won't be able to see you anymore, I'll have to go live across the sea!" she laughed softly and patted his head.

"Silly bean, I'm not going anywhere. So you should go with her and live as wonderfully as possible then come back here someday and tell me all about your adventures! Gosh I'm excited just thinking about it!" she smiled, though it made her sad to have to lose him she kept it hidden though as Crow's hand gently patted her back she realized she hadn't fooled everyone.

Nao looked down and nodded, his fists bunching the sheets around her legs together as more tears fell. "O-Okay…I'll go! B-But I'll come back! And then we'll have a duel!" she wrapped her arms around him and nodded.

"I look forward to it."

Not long after Nao had settled back down and listened seriously to Martha's description of the woman; she was a lawyer, had no kids, was married to her high school sweetheart, had two dogs, and owned a large two story house and even a beach house!

Raven thought the woman lived in extravagance but she was happy to see Nao's excitement though of course he tried to hide it.

After which Nao begged to stay and sleep in Raven's bed, but Martha and Crow put a stop to that. Which made sense, since it was taking everything she had just to stay conscious, Nao pouted but then demanded that she see him off tomorrow afternoon which she happily agreed before he walked out with Martha bidding them good night with the woman sending a silent "Thank you" look toward her before she shut the door.

As soon as she did Raven let her body fall backwards onto the bed, everything seemed to take a lot more energy then it should have. 'Though thinking about it I did use a lot during my duel with Isaac…' she shuttered as she remembered how he had forced her to summon the Crimson Dragon, the card her own father had entrusted to her.

Crow sighed as he sat down again, pulling off his headband and patting her forehead. "Good job Raven." She smiled before looking at him worried.

"Are you going to be okay sleeping there? I'm sure it can't be that comfortable." The red head smirked,

"Raven, are _you_ asking me to climb into your hospital bed with you?" she blushed at the way he said it, like there was some double meaning.

"N-No! W-Well actually, I was b-but it's only because I don't want you to be sore tomorrow or get cold…" she covered her face with her hands as he chuckled standing up again.

"Alright, since you asked so nicely I will grant your request. Scoot over a bit." She did as instructed as he climbed onto the bed laying on his side, she blushed as she felt his breath on her neck but at the same time she was happy because she missed feeling his body next to her own.

Once he was sure they both were covered equally he sighed and draped an arm over her waist making her squeak in surprise. He chuckled again,

"So fidgety!" sticking her tongue out at him she covered his hand with her own, entwining their fingers. Using her free hand she slid it carefully across his neck, she couldn't see him in the darkness but the image from before still haunted her.

"Are you…" he nuzzled playfully against her hand his lips gliding across her palm,

"I'm fine, really! You won't even be able to see it in the morning. Now go to sleep you silly bird." She giggled at the name before yawning, her lids becoming heavy as she rested her hand against his chest feeling his heart beating against it a rhythmic beat that slowly lulled her into the depths of her mind again.

Just before falling asleep completely she heard Crow's voice; "Love you Raven." That alone carried her through the night with no nightmares.

* * *

A week.

That was how long she was ordered to stay in bed, seven straight days of being bored out of her skull and playing random board games and small duels with the children.

Seven days of being banned from reading the information Yusei had given her on her father, of Yusei or Bruno trying to run code by her only to be chased away by the mother-hen aka Crow. Of waiting for her body to recover from the stress of summoning an ancient dragon and worst of all; _seven days_ of having to do nothing but listen while the number of people with the terrible disease increased, even Akiza and the Twins had stopped visiting, their own parent's insisting the danger was too great.

Though it wasn't always just sitting around she remembered as she pulled her boots on over her dark blue jeans that Crow had brought her as memories of Nao came back.

The woman had arrived exactly a noon in a long black car that Crow had called a 'Limo', Raven was still unable to walk properly but with a little help she managed to walk the little blonde boy out with the help of a wheel chair, though not before mother-hen had packed the chair with a pillow and blankets.

Though a little unnecessary in her mind she decided not to say anything as he wheeled her outside, the woman standing before them resembling Nao, with her long blonde hair tied in a high pony tail and her bangs sweeping across one of her golden colored eyes. She wore a pink sweater with a pair of light blue jeans and a pair of fuzzy boots covering her feet.

All and all Raven thought she looked very beautiful, she turned to Nao a small suitcase in his hand and smiled down at him. He was nervous, that much she could tell as he stood there his entire being shook like a leaf in the wind even more so when the woman stepped forward toward him, he clung to Raven's hand.

"Naoto?" her voice was soft as she spoke, everyone waiting for his reply.

"I-It's Nao…" Both her and the woman smiled, it was definitely a start.

"Nao it is then, do you know who I am?" he shook his head.

"I was your mom's big sister. My name is Naomi And I've been looking for you for a very long time." Nao sniffed as he took a tiny step toward her.

"Y-You were mommy's sister?" she nodded,

"I can tell you about her if you'd like, and you can tell me all about you." Nao smiled and that's how it began, and just like that it was done. Nao was saying his goodbye's to everyone until finally he came toward her, his eyes shone with tears and Raven couldn't help but giggle as she held out her arms for him, he wasted no time in throwing himself at her tiny sobs coming from his mouth.

"Hey, no tears! We made a promise right? So until we see each other again I want you to be strong okay?" he looked up and nodded wiping the tears from his green eyes, "Good, and remember if you ever feel lonely just think about Martha or the other children or even me, because we'll all be right here." She pointed toward his heart.

"A-Alright." Wrapping her arms tightly around the boy she let a single tear fall before he pulled away.

And just like that, he walked to the car with Naomi and drove off everyone waving until they were no longer in sight, only then did she let her tears fall freely. 'A goodbye when you hold back your tears is very lonely.'

* * *

_**Ahhh and there ends another chapter! Sorry to anyone who was a fan of little Nao, but i just couldn't seem to fit him into the rest of the story very well. But I made sure he was well taken care of! **_

_***For this device I went off of what Lazar had when he first dueled Crow in Satellite I wasn't really sure what to call it but there ya go! **_

_**Anyway! Please Review with any thoughts, opinions or thoughts! **_

_**Till next time! :3 **_


	23. One Step at a Time

_**;A; I am so so so sorry! It was terrible! I lost my muse for this story, and life just sucked my ability to write straight out of me! But I'm happy to say i've returned and ready to start updating this, though i'm not sure it will be as regularly(?) as it used to be. But I will try my very very hardest! Anyway! I would love to thank all my lovely amazing reviewers; Molly Grace 16, Magdalene Thorne, JuneGilbertVivianRaeven, Count Morningstar, FiringShootingStar and PeaceLoveSonicandChao!**_

_**(Note: Some things were brought to my attention about how I was portraying Crow, and it didn't sit right with me, so I just re-wrote some parts essentially the chapter is still the same.) **_

**_Also this is in regards to PeaceLoveSonicandChao's comment; I really appreciate your helpful comments though there are some things I am confused about, such as the villain, as everyone Raven has encountered under that category have all tied back to Wulf with the exception of the gangsters in the beginning. So if you could elaborate on that more I would really appreciate it as I try my very hardest to make this story enjoyable for everyone to read._**

**_Now on the with the story!_**

**_Disclaimer: Oh please, if I owned Yugioh 5Ds my muse wouldn't have run away at the first sign of trouble! So thus only the OC's and story plot is mine. :)_**

* * *

Raven walked out of the hospital room and down the hall where the voices of Crow and Jack could be heard arguing over something, 'Probably something stupid knowing them.' She sighed and walked through the doorway the scene before her not so much shocking as funny.

Jack stood behind Crow his fingers hooked in the corners of the red heads mouth and stretching them outward. Raven put a hand up to try and stifle the laugh that leaked out regardless, gaining both boys attentions.

"Its about time you got here! It's rude to make a king wait!" Raven smirked as Doctor Schmidt came through the door behind her.

"I see your leaving us today Raven." She nodded but tried not to show how happy she was about that fact, obviously failing as the doctor smirked.

"It's okay to be happy to go home, but I just want you to be careful. No dueling for at least another week and especially no using your powers." She nodded and played with the hem of her blue sweater.

"D-Do you know why my white count was so low?" The man seemed to consider this as Jack and Crow continued their fight, though she supposed that was how they showed their love for one another, at least that's what she _hoped._

"Well from the tests I performed it seems like your body went into a surge mode where it focused solely on the purpose of maintaining your body and fixing whatever ailments you had at the time. It's only a theory though, but just to be on the safe side I would check your white count every day." He handed her a small black case,

"Inside is a syringe and a small white count meter. I don't think I will have to explain to you how to do it with your background." He chuckled and she smirked, Doctor Schmidt laid a hand on her shoulder.

"The situation hasn't changed though Raven, that reporter girl is still on your trail and this terrible sickness is still spreading faster than we can control it. If your father's research can help even a little bit I'm sure you're the one who can crack it." The man had been informed about her connection to the current events and it had been discovered that her father's research, no matter how helpful it might be, was written in a code she only seemed to have a vague grasp on.

She remembered the man from her dream again and his words about how she wasn't alone in this, but it didn't change her frightened feelings about it. Still she nodded and turned back to the now wrestling duo and sighed.

"Honestly you two, just like cats and dogs." Pulling on a power blue hat she stuffed her black hair inside it, it wasn't much of a disguise but it was the best she had until they thought of something better.

"I hope your hopes aren't on the wrong person Doctor Schmidt, but I suppose with these guys by my side I shouldn't mess up _that_ much." She giggled as she watched the two boys finally part from each other, choosing instead to stand with their backs to one another and arms crossed over their chests.

"You have too little confidence in yourself Raven, you're much stronger than you think you are." She nodded her thanks,

"I am just me, and that's all I want to ever be. Especially for _him_." Her pale blue eyes stared lovingly at the red head whose cheeks were puffed out like the fish she had seen on their first date. Which also made her remember something;

"Now that that's done, why don't we head home? I still owe you all a nice dinner." This seemed to perk them both up, Crow nodding enthusiastically and Jack while attempting to be nonchalant about his excitement.

And with that they bid their farewells and were back at the garage in under ten minutes, Raven had never been so happy to see the giant metal door in all the time she had lived here.

Jack led the way inside as Crow and herself followed behind, their arms wrapped around one another. She wasn't expecting a big welcome and thankfully they had provided her with exactly that as she walked in and sighed.

The sounds of Yusei and Bruno working on the computer and Jack stalking off to the couch mumbling something about "Needing coffee." Raven of course, made a B line for the kitchen area to see what ingredients they had.

As she opened the fridge she noticed two things; it was completely full of the food from her own fridge and sitting on the top shelf was a single cupcake with the words "Welcome Back!" written on it in orange gel icing.

She smiled and glanced over her shoulder, eight pairs of eyes trying to subtly see her reaction. Raven laughed,

"Thank you! Now how about I make that dinner I promised you all?" the sound of rumbling stomachs was all the encouragement she needed.

~0~0~0~0~

Raven sighed happily as she put the last finishing touches on the stew before spooning it into bowls that Bruno, who had insisted she let help, handed her before depositing them on the table with some rice and bread.

Jack and Crow nearly crashed into each other in their haste to make it to the waiting food made her giggle, Yusei however was a bit more graceful in his approach with a little persuasion to get away from the sudden mystery he had with some code. This of course peaked Bruno's interest and she almost lost both of them to the world of coding and D-Wheel engines if not for the empty threat of using her powers to get them to the table.

Thankfully no more convincing needed to be said as they both shuffled over to the table, Jack and Crow both slurping the Cream Stew she had made happily. It was mostly silent as they ate except for the sound of Crow's slurping which of course started a fight between him and the blonde for being 'too obscene', but Raven thankfully ignored this as she pushed away her now empty bowl and placed the tube that Yusei had given her in its place.

"You don't have to start right now you know; you just got out of the hospital." Bruno's voice was full of concern but she just smiled at him and shook her head.

"It's not that I feel I _have _too, but that I must." She sighed, "While I was in the hospital I had a dream and I'm not sure if the man in my dream was the Crimson Dragon or someone else but he said I'm the only one who can solve this mystery. Though speaking truthfully; I'm actually scared to look at what this file contains."

The fight had thankfully ended between the red head and the blonde as Crow grasped her hand and squeezed it lightly,

"Of what?" She looked away unable to make eye contact,

"Proof that all the bad stuff that's happened here really has been…all my fault. That because I exist people are suffering horribly while I stay here and be happy." staring at her lap she sighed and willed herself not to cry even as her eyes burned with tears, it was a truth she feared more than anything. Jack scoffed crossing his arms over his chest,

"Don't be daft! If this is anyone's fault it's most certainly that Wulf guy! He's the one who turned you into a living ancient dragon and spread this horrid disease over the city! Quit acting like everything's always your fault and do what you can, then leave the rest to me!" Raven supposed that was his version of a pep talk, and while it did make her feel a bit more confident she still felt the tug of guilt on her conscious.

Crow's devious laugh brought her attention back to the present as he stared at the blonde, his head resting on the back of his hand,

"Well since _she_ was the one who made the dinner I guess that means we should leave the dishes to _you_ then." The blonde's mouth dropped open and he stuttered to find a way to amend what he said, but Crow would have none of it insisting that a 'King' sticks to his word no matter what. Yusei and Bruno who were silent throughout the exchange laughed,

"It's true Jack, its bad manners to go back on your word." He looked at Yusei with wide eyes making Raven laugh she couldn't help but join in.

"Indeed, you _did _say that Jack." The blonde humphed and looked away, mumbling a "I'm only doing it because I _want _too." They all laughed as he seemed to pout.

~0~0~0~0~

Raven wanted to bang her head against the wall.

Thankfully her hands were too full at the moment patching up some of Jack's clothes, as she continued to stare at the conundrum that was her father's research. Having been forced to give up sighing out loud by a flying shoe, who knew Jack had such a good arm?

She sighed inwardly, her shoulders slumping as she cut the thread from the finished patch job and moved on to the next item of clothing, a pair of Crow's socks with a hole in the big toe.

Raven had managed to finally begin reading the file and came to a realization that maybe she was a bit in over her head. 'Not only is it written in a finite binary code but there also seems to be some sort of symbol sequence that makes sense at one point but at another it's completely meaningless!'

A sigh brought her attention back to the present, looking across the table she saw Crow still resolutely sitting across from her, having promised not to leave her side until she had figured this out. He had been dozing lightly up until this point and she could tell by his not so subtle glances at the stairs that it was time for him to hit the sack.

Looking at the clock her eyes widened, 'How the heck did it get to be 2 am?! I started at 7…' though considering she had been pretty much zoned out up until this point it shouldn't be surprising. She looked at the red head as he sighed again, she couldn't stop the smirk on her face.

"You should go to bed if your tired Crow, I promise it won't hurt my feelings." The fiery gaze he sent her way said "Not without you, you need to rest too!" he had long since stopped talking and thought at first it made her wonder if he was angry Yusei had informed her that this was just his way of not saying something horrible due to exhaustion.

'Speaking of Yusei…' Turning her head and wincing as it cracked from so little movement, she wasn't surprised by the sight; Bruno and Yusei still up and acting as if on instinct as they moved between his D-Wheel and the computers, a few words spoken here and there but they both seemed to be in their own world.

'A world completely theirs and theirs alone.' Looking back at the red head who had now taken to propping his head on the table by his chin and staring dejectedly at the stairs, she caved.

Cutting the sting that connected to his sock she placed it carefully on the pile of finished clothes and turned off the information-tube, that being what she called it after failing to find a better name for it. She stood up and stretched out her limbs, gaining the attention of the red head; she smiled at him and held out her hand.

"Let's go to bed Crow." And that was all it took as he quickly got up and nearly dragged her up the stairs in his rush to reach his bed and soon after they were both out, curled up against each other.

* * *

Crow became aware of two things as he woke up the next morning; the first and least surprising was that Jack was yelling, this being the norm around here he tended to ignore it however he also came to realize the second thing. The warmth of the body that had been laying next to him all night was no longer there and if he listened closely he swore he could hear that very person's voice from down the stairs.

Only instead of her happy tone that made his heart soar, it was scared sounding, almost borderline angry. Crow sighed and got up, stretching his muscles before walking out of the room and to the stair case where he took in the strange sight.

Raven stood behind Bruno, her fingers clutching tightly to his white jacket as he stood in front of her his hands out in front of him as Jack loomed over them both holding a small box with what looked to be a pen attached to the bottom.

"Jack come on, think about this! It's permanent and what's more she really doesn't want it." The blonde scoffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"A king does _not_ babysit for someone who can clearly take care of themselves, with the right modification of course." The red head lifted a brow at this, and as he walked down the stairs he got a better look at what the blonde was holding….

And face palmed.

Crow jabbed the taller male in the back with his elbow, making him drop the stupid machine. Jack turned on his heel, leaning down with a frown on his face. The red head glared at the taller male not intimidated in the least by the scowl on his face.

"Jack, you can't just tattoo my girlfriend because you feel inconvenienced!" Jack huffed and crossed his arms.

"Besides Jack I'm just going to library, it's not even that far." Crow nodded and continued speaking;

"Yeah it's only the- wait what? Why would you go there?" Her pale blue eyes turned toward him and sighed deeply,

"I need to do some research; the best place for me to do that would be at a place _made_ for that particular reason." He ignored her irritated tone and crossed his arms,

"No way! Not without anyone going with you for protection, did you already forget how the whole city is after you?!" She narrowed her eyes and mimicked his stance,

"Trust me; I am _very_ aware of what's going on. But, if I have _any _hope of solving my father's code and saving this city I have to go get more information and in order to do that I have to actually _leave._ And I don't need protection Crow, I'm a big girl and can take care of myself!" Crow sighed, a part of him knowing she was right but still the thought alone of someone getting their hands on her shook him to the bone.

After witnessing the damage done by Isaac in there duel, it terrified him to think about what her own father could do. But he shook those thoughts as Bruno spoke up,

"If it would help, I can go with her. There are some things I need to look up as well and I'm afraid Yusei might be a bit peeved if I hacked into the city's database again." Crow sweat dropped as Raven looked at him in awe. He remembered that, it took them a week to convince Sector Security to get off their backs.

The red head jumped as pale blue eyes were suddenly right in front of him, and he felt his cheeks light up with her being so close.

"Oh please please can I go?" she was using her sweetest voice on him, making his heart jump in his chest and finally after both her voice and her eyes doing funny things to his heart beat he had to look away and nod his head.

"Hooray!" She clapped and turned to the blue haired male to discuss travel plans, Crow just smiled and turned to go get ready for work, worry still nagging at the back of his mind.

~0~0~0~0~

After a few hours of nearly crashing into every passing car and street light, Crow Hogan decided to call it a day and seek out the thing, or in this case person, that had been plaguing his thoughts all day.

But having no luck in finding the girl at the library he sighed, and called back to garage, Jack's voice answering though he tell it was reluctantly.

"What the duce do you want? I was trying to come up with a new strategy." Crow rolled his eyes,

"Did Raven and Bruno make it back there?" Jack let out an aggravated sigh,

"The dimwit did," Crow swore he heard a crash in the background, most likely Bruno falling over in surprise. "But she went back to her own apartment, some nonsense about needing quiet space or something." The red head nodded, and hung up as he headed toward the brown building and nearly running up the stairs.

As he reached the door he listened to see if he could hear any sign of life inside, but after a few seconds of hearing nothing and feeling stupid for just standing in the hall he went up to the door and placed his ear against the wood.

The red head fell forward as the wooden door in front of him suddenly swung open, he didn't fall far however as he landed against the dark haired girl, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck and head. She chuckled warmly,

"Well that was quite the hello, Crow." The red head snorted as he kneeled in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist, "Were you worried?" he pressed his lips tightly together, a sure sign of 'not telling'. She laughed again as he decided on the perfect way to get revenge for being so constant in his mind today, his hands sliding up and down her sides.

The sound of her laughter made his heart race and he smiled running his fingers lightly over her sides making the girl fidget. Crow smirked devilishly and continued his actions, making the girl above him giggle louder.

Increasing the frequency of his movements Raven let out a scream of laughter, her hands gripping tightly to his shirt as tears rolled down her cheeks. Crow couldn't help but laugh with her, her laughter was just _that_ infectious to him.

Suddenly her legs went out from under her and they both went toppling down to the ground, Crow landing so that he sat straddling her waist. He could feel her breathing heavily as she caught her breath, and as Crow sat up he thanked his lucky stars Raven hadn't worn a skirt today as he currently sat with one of her legs hooked on top of one of his own, his torso leaning over her.

Raven blushed as she also noticed their positions, but didn't move from beneath him. Crow smiled down at her, 'Damn, how did I get so lucky?'

It was then he noticed something off, and he sighed. "Raven, why is your hair red?"

Raven blushed and ran her hand through it, the color only seemed to reach about halfway down the length of her hair, leaving the last few inches its normal color.

"W-well…When I got back here I kinda realized Jack had a point. Especially since a lot of people were kinda pointing and staring at me while I was walking, but I don't think tattooing my face is the best route." He sweat dropped, "So after talking with Ms. Carrie she gave me some hair coloring and helped me color it, though we ran out halfway through…" Crow chuckled and shook his head as he leaned down to brush his lips across her forehead.

"I like it, you make red look sexy." Raven's jaw hung slack, opening and closing almost like a fish as she attempted to say something. Crow didn't think it was possible but her entire face turned a darker shade of red than her own hair! 'Ah damn, she's too cute!' he thought as he smiled and connected his lips with her own.

* * *

A little while later they both were in her little kitchen area, the setting sun behind them already creating shadows on the walls as the remaining light filtered into the room through the window to the right on her TV. Crow sat at the table while Raven stood in front of the stove preparing some tea and humming softly as she thought about the information she had collected earlier.

"So were you…ya know spotted while you were out today?" he asked trying to hide his worry, but ultimately failing. Still Raven kept her tone light as she turned, her pale blue gaze turned toward the ceiling as if in thought.

"Hmm…I suppose a few people did stare at me, but you know considering how I looked it wasn't that strange…" she blushed as his words replayed through her head again, and she turned her attention back to the tea and wondering what she could make for dinner to occupy her attention, though she could still feel the blush on her cheeks.

"Did you at least learn anything new from your research?" she grabbed some cups from the cupboard as she spoke and placed them on the table; "Hmm, I learned a bit more about this and that, but nothing I didn't already have a very basic grasp of in the first place. Though in his research he seems to mention something called 'Zero Reverse' and 'Dark Energy' a lot." She tapped her finger lightly against the cup, Crow shifted across from her.

"There wasn't a whole lot of in-depth information on 'Zero Reverse' other than something called the Ener-D system overloading and causing some massive damage, thus separating the main land from what was later called 'Satellite'. But no information was given on what caused the system to overload or what any of that had to do with 'Dark energy' or how it relates to my father." The kettle began to whistle, as she had opted for a more out dated one rather than the high tech one that not only boiled the water within a minute but also made coffee and other hot drinks. Standing up she noticed Crow had his head bent slightly, his expression covered in shadow.

Her thoughts raced toward what he told her about in the aquarium, how he, Jack, and Yusei were all orphaned and stuck on Satellite after the land was split apart. A wave of guilt washed over her and as she returned to the table and set the kettle down on a towel laid on the table, tears pickling the back of her eyes.

"Oh my gosh, that was so stupid! I'm so sorry!" she turned her gaze away from his as he looked up, 'I can't believe I said something so insensitive!' she berated herself. Raven yelped as his hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled her down landing her so that she sat across his lap, the red head's smiling face beaming down at her.

"Hey! Don't even sweat it! It was a long time ago, and besides I got to meet tons of amazing people because of it." She felt his warm fingers gently turn her head as he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Especially you Raven." She swore she felt her heart stop for a minute and restart as her cheeks heated up with a blush. Her fingers gripped tightly onto his vest scrunching the fabric beneath her hands,

"M-Me t-too…So much." He chuckled and reached across the table to drag her own cup to their side as his free arm wrapped around her waist anchoring her in place. Carefully she poured the tea into their cups, a warm fruity scent filling the area around them.

"The best person to talk to about that would probably be Yusei, I mean; it was his dad's project and everything." Raven nearly dropped her tea cup on her lap in shock.

"W-Wha-?" Crow smirked and continued, "Yep, he would probably know the most about it. But since we kicked Dark Signer butt, I don't think there's a way for you to get any info on the Dark Energy." Pale blue eyes widened as she shifted in his lap, causing his head to turn downward.

"Uh…Well, I've actually got a good idea about that…." She felt him tense slightly beneath her but pushed forward anyway.

"I'm going to have to visit an actual person with Satellite Flu." Crow blinked not understanding, she swallowed nervously.

"In a hospital, preferably the main one in charge of the outbreak." He continued to stare at her, she could tell he was hoping she would say it was all just a joke, however her next sentence shattered that dream.

"The one surrounded by reporters and officers looking for me." Crow's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and she waited for a few heartbeats to hear his reply, and boy did he.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

* * *

_**Well...there we have it! I've already begun working on the next chapter, but like I said due to work and pure exhaustion i'm not really sure when it will be up, so please bear with me and if you would be so kind...review with any thoughts, comments, or helpful advice! OH! And Happy Valentines day to all you lovely people! (Note: Again sorry for anyone who thought it would be a new chapter, but I promise to have the next one up soon!) **_

_**Till next time! :3**_


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